Bittersweet Symphony
by krissyg927
Summary: Carol is a single mother with a teenage daughter named Sophia. Sophia's father has been out of the picture the entire time. But one day they bump into him in the local farm market. I really stink at these summery things. AU no ZA. CARYL
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: I tried really hard to finish this before I posted...and I'm weak. Let me know what you think and as always I love you all._**

Carol sat in her jeep on a sunny fall day at the school bopping her head to her favorite Nirvana song. It was her day to pick up the kids and do homework and dinner with them. On nights she worked her neighbor and best friend Lori did the same with Sophia for her. She was lucky to have such a good friend, right next door now. In the beginning when her parents were still alive it had been so hard.

Bringing a baby into their home was not on her mother's to do list and she never let Carol forget it.

Her friends were all young but they helped as much as they could, without Tara and Maggie she would have been sunk. He parents had been older when she was born so when she had Sophia they couldn't help as much as they might have wanted to. Her father anyway, he tried though as best he could.

Getting through Nursing school as a single parent and trying to be a good mother to Sophia had been a tall order. She cried herself to sleep on more nights than she wanted to remember, with her books in front of her, thinking she would never get through it.

But she had done it and was still doing it. Now she and Sophia lived in the house she grew up in. They were happy. She missed her father and Sophia did also, he had been dead almost a year now. Her mother for five years now.

In the jeep her head was going and her foot was tapping to her favorite music and it was a good day. Her car was always a compilation of '90's grunge music and so far her daughter Sophia didn't complain and she actually liked her mother's music.

Sophia would sing right along with her and knew all the words.

But she was getting older and Carol knew it would be a matter of time and everything would change. There was no way around it, but she would enjoy her daughter as long as she could.

Sophia was turning sixteen at Christmas time and it was just the two of them, Sophia's father was long gone. He hadn't been around since he helped make Sophia.

It was ok though. She held no hard feelings and left it up to fate to decide if he would be in Sophia's life or not. So far she hadn't heard from him, no one had that she knew of in their old gang.

Carol and Sophia had a wonderful support system in the small town they had lived in all their lives and that helped a lot. Friends were what helped you get through life and Carol was blessed.

She watched Sophia and Lori's kids seventeen-year-old Carl and his fifteen-year-old sister Judith walking towards her. They were Sophia's posse and had been for the last ten years when Lori and Rick had moved in next door.

She watched these two children grow up with Sophia and now they were all teenagers, wasn't it just yesterday that they played in a sandbox in the back yard?

They were like the three musketeers all these years and next month Carl would have his car on the road. These kids were growing up so fast in made her head spin.

Where was her baby?

Carol and Lori were good friends and she had a few others too. Life was good and as she watched the three teenagers walking towards the jeep all smiles and giggles she said a silent prayer of thanks. Things had worked out when really they shouldn't have.

She had been a mother before she turned eighteen and by that time Sophia's father had already joined the service. They had said they would keep in touch but that wasn't how it worked out. He was out there somewhere not knowing he was a father.

He wasn't on Facebook, because Carol had looked one night after too many glasses of wine and some false courage. If she had found him or his brother she would have messaged them, tried to get in touch, but they weren't there.

Sometimes she thought he was dead, he had gone to Iraq in 2000, she had heard. Then the attacks on the World Trade Center happened and the country was at war. She wondered sometimes if he still even walked this earth.

He had been her friend and the thought of him dead made her heart hurt.

She could still see him, sitting on the hood of his truck listening to some Nirvana song, with his baseball cap on backwards and his shaggy hair. She could see him everyday in her daughters face and some of her mannerisms.

She was pulled by her thoughts by the kids pulling the doors to her jeep open and throwing their backpacks in the back seat. Sophia got in the front and Carl and Judith were in the back. The three kids immediately started to talk a mile a minute, which was not anything new.

"Are we going Mom?" Sophia asked. "You said you and Lori and Rick would talk it over and let us know today, so did you?"

"We talked." She started and she could hear the three of them start to giggle with glee. "Are you sure you want us to go too?"

"Of course we do Carol, you and my mom." Judith sang from the back of the car as Carol started it and pulled away from the school. "Why wouldn't we want you to go?'

"My mom seen it already." Sophia said turning back to Carl and Judith.

 _Yes, I have, with your father._

"Come on mom, it's Halloween Friday and everyone is going." Sophia said. "We can dress up if you want."

Carl shook his head. "You girls are not putting any make up on me."

"You should dress up too Carol and my mom. Aren't there a few women in it?" Judy said.

 _More than a few Carol laughed to herself. She was now that mom and she was dragging Lori right down with her._

"My days of dressing up are over guys."

"You could so still pull it off." Carl mumbled from the backseat.

She looked up at him in the rearview mirror and laughed. This was what gave her joy, being with these kids and doing things with them.

She was so grateful that she was as close to Sophia as she was. She didn't have that with her mother, not even after Sophia was born. When mothers and daughters got closer, Carol and her mother just became more at odds with each other, there just wasn't a bond there.

Carol and Sophia had an unbreakable bond. They were tight and always had been. The morning Sophia was born it was 1 am when she finally arrived after a long horrible labor. They took her to the nursery as per the hospital protocol. By 2:15am Carol was at the nursey window asking for her baby and it was the two of them against the world ever since.

"And FYI Carl. If me and Soph want to put make up on you, we're going to do it." Judith said to him. "Right Soph."

Sophia nodded turning to her friends in the back seat. "What's the matter Carl afraid your manliness will be threatened?"

"No." He said making a face at his sister in the back seat. "Just don't wanna."

"Well you're gonna." Sophia said and they all erupted into giggles again.

Music to Carol's ears, the sound of her daughter and her friends laughing. Life was good.

Her mother would not approve of this, but she wasn't her mother and she was going to take her kid to The Rocky Horror Picture Show with her best friend.

#######################

Later Carol watched the kids from the kitchen as she cooked dinner for them. She had music playing and was humming to herself. She always had to have her music playing, it was her touchstone. It got her through the good times and the bad and it was always there for her.

Tonight they were having spaghetti and meatballs, and all the kids loved it. Every Tuesday night she made it for the three kids and herself. Carol always made her mother's cheese bread too and there were never any leftovers.

This was her favorite time of year, Halloween, her favorite holiday. Soon it would be Thanksgiving and then Sophia's birthday December 14th, then Christmas. The years had flown by it seemed like yesterday that she had brought her home from the hospital, so scared and alone.

But she had made a life for them, after so much hard work and now it was paying off. The nights of leaving Sophia with her parents and more often, her friends so she could work as a Nurse's Aide while she was in school were done. The times she had to burden Maggie and Tara were over finally.

For the first four years of Sophia's life she was either in school if it was daytime, or at work if it was at night. She had managed it somehow and now they were on the other side of it.

Now, she worked three days a week twelve hour shifts and owned the house outright. Sophia said that she was her best friend, above Judith even and that was saying something. Carol knew that at this age kids didn't normally want to hang out with their mothers.

She certainly didn't ever want to hang with her mother. For what? To be judged more, for having a baby at seventeen and not naming the father. Carol's mother never let her forget how disappointed she was in her.

Carol didn't care, Sophia was her world. She never regretted the decision to have her, not once, even during the hardest times.

The relationship they had was unique and she treasured it.

As Sophia grew up through the years she looked more and more like him. She didn't have Carol's dark auburn hair, she had his blonde hair. She had Carol's bright blue eyes, and a mole over her lip, just like him.

She was the best of both of them, with her mother's fiery personality and mad sense of humor. Her short fuse and ability to speak her mind was all him though.

Sophia bit her thumbnail when she was nervous just like he did and loved chocolate malts, not milkshakes, just like him. She covered her French fries in gravy which Carol knew was the way he ate them too.

Sometimes Sophia asked about her father and Carol told her what she could, his name and that he was in the Army. She told Sophia that they had been friends for a long time but that she didn't know how to find him, which was true.

Eventually Sophia just stopped asking. It was just them and that was enough. When she was older, if she wanted Carol would help her find him. I would be entirely up to Sophia at that point.

"Hey mom." Sophia called from the living room where they were doing their homework drawing her out of her thoughts.

"Are we cooking Thanksgiving this year?"

"Maggie is and we have the mission in the morning anyway." Every year they volunteered on Thanksgiving and Christmas to feed the homeless and the hungry. She and Maggie alternated the cooking and if it was Carol's year to cook, Maggie came to the house and watched the turkey and food until they got home from the mission.

They all would get together for holidays, Carol and Sophia, The Grimes family, the Greene family, Tara, Alisha and Glenn, Maggie's fiancée and anyone else who didn't have a place to go was welcome.

Tara and her girlfriend Alisha would make peach and apple cobbler and help out with the mission too. It was Tara who got Carol into volunteering and now, it was their holiday routine.

Tara was a social worker and was always looking for ways to give back. Carol found that it was important to her too.

Helping others was in her nature, even if she wasn't a nurse she would still be that way, she believed. She was raising her daughter to be compassionate to others and empathetic.

She was proud of the young lady Sophia was now. She was a friend to everyone and a truly wonderful child.

"Ok, so we need the apples for the pies right? Are we going to the farm this weekend?" Sophia asked.

"Saturday after we wake up from this adventure you have us going on Friday night." Carol said. "Tara is going to come by around two."

"Ok, sounds like a good weekend." Sophia said.

"I try." Carol replied.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Thank you to everyone who left me love on this story. Its been buzzing in my head for a while._**

Saturday afternoon Carol and Sophia dragged themselves out of bed at one pm even though they had been out so late the night before. They were tired but happy. It had been a great night with Lori, Judith and Carl.

They went to the diner and met Tara for brunch, then all three of them headed to Greene's orchards and farm. They would meet Lori, Carl and Judith there and pick apples from the trees there and then go home and make pies.

Everyone in town went to Greene's market, and everyone went to Smith's garage right next door. The Greene farm sat behind the large store and greenhouse and that was where Maggie lived. Carol and everyone spent a lot of time at the Greene farm and store when they were kids. At one time or another every kid that Carol knew worked at the Greene's farm. She even worked in the store with Maggie and Beth when they were all in high school.

It was a big white country store with plants outside for sale and inside were specialty food products and homemade baked goods. Their farm was behind the store on sixty acres of orchards and farm land. The greenhouse held any type of flower you could think of plus plants and herbs that they grew on the farm.

Inside the store Maggie was running the front registers and making the best apple cider to be had for miles around. That was her usual job, especially now that Beth and Zack got married and moved to the next county. They were having a baby any day now too. Maggie worked almost every day helping her father.

The cider was to die for, the best in the county according to the local papers.

Carol and Sophia would be having some of that too, just like they always did.

Sophia, Carl and Judith were already in the country store, walking down the isles still chattering a mile a minute about the movie. They never stopped talking and giggling as they approached Maggie who stood at the counter and leaned over to talk to them.

She had been talking to two men standing there at her counter, one of them, the taller one, had short cropped blonde hair and the other had longer blonde hair and appeared to be the younger of the two. The kids didn't know them and that was odd. They thought they knew everyone in the town, but they had never seen them before. The kids just looked them over once and then went back to Maggie.

"Maggie, we had so much fun last night." Judith said bouncing over to the counter and almost knocking the youngest of the men right over. "We got up on stage and did the time warp and everything."

"Sorry mister." Judith said looking up at him her dark hair in a ponytail with little curls around her face, her big brown eyes wide, the spitting image of her mother. Carl pulled her back to him and out of the way of these strangers, always the protective older brother. He was like that with Sophia too, but for entirely different reasons that he wasn't ready to disclose to anyone. Not even to her.

"It's ok no harm done." Daryl replied.

"Excuse me one second guys." Maggie held up a finger to them to indicate she wanted them to wait. She hadn't seen these two men in a good long time. "Please don't go anywhere."

She hadn't seen the Dixon brothers in years and years to be exact. They were nice enough and she knew them from school, hell they all knew each other. They both worked as farm hands every summer for her father for years just like the high school boys did now.

They came in to see if Maggie and her family still worked in the store and to say they bought the garage next door from old Jacob Smith, who was moving to Florida to retire. Maggie couldn't hide the fact that she was thrilled. They would live in the small house adjoining the garage property. Maggie was happy to see them after so many years.

Her father would be too, he always liked them, it wasn't their fault that they had such a messed up family life. Herschel never judged anyone on anything except how they treated him and his kin. These two were good boys and just had never got a break in life, until the Army came calling.

Maggie's step brother Sean and Daryl had been tight back in the day and even though he was gone now, dead from meningitis, it made her happy to see his old friend. Daryl hadn't known Sean was gone and when Maggie told him, he was a little shaken up.

Sean had been gone five years and in a better place Maggie hoped. Daryl and Merle hadn't been home in fifteen years at least. There was nothing to come home for, not really. Their father was dead, not that they would see him if he wasn't. They preferred to go where the service sent them. They had both lived in Hawaii, Iraq, Germany, Afghanistan, Japan and many other places in the world. They were both officers and retired early since they never took time off.

Maggie turned to the kids to hear their story. Daryl and Merle stood over by the groceries to wait for her to finish.

"Told ya, did you bring the rice and everything?" Maggie asked making her eyes big and wide to make the kids laugh. Someday Maggie hoped to have children, she and Glenn wanted to, as soon as they were married. She couldn't wait till Beth had her baby.

"No." Sophia said. "My Mom said a bunch of assholes ruined that a long time ago."

Off to the side of the counter, Merle laughed at the young girl's words, she was a little spitfire that one. Someday that one would give a man a run for his money, he thought to himself.

"Sophia language." Maggie chastised but with a bright smile on her face for her friend's child. "Do you all want cider?"

All three kids nodded and she turned to Merle and Daryl and they nodded too. She set to pouring hot cider into paper cups for everyone and continued talking with the three kids.

"Sorry, but it's true, we couldn't bring anything in except newspaper." Judith frowned but then quickly smiled again. "We still had fun."

"It was bitchin Maggie." Carl said as Maggie swatted at him, but he was too quick for her and danced right out of the way.

"Where's mom?" Maggie asked.

"She's outside with Lori and Tara talking to your Dad about composting or something weird like that." Sophia said. "You know how she is."

"Tell her I was asking for her." Maggie said. "And you kids stop cussing, you hear me?"

"She's coming in with my mom and Tara." Carl said. "They wanna make pies today."

"We need to get the apples, come on Carl." Sophia said as she led him and Judith away. "See you in a few Maggie."

"Bye kids." Maggie turned back to Merle and Daryl. "Sorry about that."

"Its ok darlin." Merle said. "Cute kids, just like we all were right?" Merle said giving her his best panty dropper smile even though he could clearly see her engagement ring. It was all in fun.

"Who's lucky guy Mags?" Daryl asked.

"Who do ya think?" She smiled at him.

"Be good to see Glenn again." Merle said. "Good to see everyone."

"So, how long has it been guys? Twelve, thirteen years?" Maggie said.

Daryl nodded. "More like fifteen or sixteen, I went in the Army in '99 Merle had already been in for two years then."

"Thanks for that Daryl, for serving our country, both of you." Maggie said.

"Welcome darlin." Merle said again giving her his award winning smile. "We're back now, time to put down some roots."

"I can't believe it about Sean, I'm so sorry Maggie." Daryl said.

Maggie nodded and smiled, it was ok, and she knew Sean wasn't suffering anymore. She missed him, but he had been so sick and seeing him suffer was far worse than losing him. She knew he watched over their family from heaven.

Now the Dixon's were putting down roots. Maggie was pretty sure that the apocalypse was on its way.

Life had a way of bringing you back to right where you started didn't it?

"So the kids still go to Rocky Horror around here huh?" Daryl said after the three kids stopped yapping at Maggie.

"Yeah, just like us, still have to go to Macon too same old theater, wait." Maggie's eyes lit up, big and round, like she had just solved the problem to world hunger. "Hey you knew Carol Parker right."

They both knew her, they all ran in the same crowd in high school. They all went to grammar school together too. They were all in various grades, but it was a small town, everyone knew everyone. Back in the day and now, not much had changed at all.

Carol, Maggie, Sean, Merle, Tara and Glenn, who Maggie was engaged to now. Daryl knew Carol, she was two years behind him in school, four behind Merle. Daryl knew Carol quite well, actually. If you could call it that.

They had all been good friends back in the day. Some more than others.

Daryl and Carol had a thing for about five minutes before he went to boot camp and that was the end of it. He regretted that he never contacted her, but he was young and unable to reach out , and then he went to Iraq. There was no time to think of a girl when he was there. It was all about running and keeping your head down.

And he was sure it was a pity fuck and he didn't want to make it weird for her by bothering her.

Carol Parker had slipped from his memory a long time ago, although she didn't go willingly. She came to mind from time to time, and he wondered how she was through the years.

There never seemed to be any reason to come back, not one that didn't make him feel like a jackass anyway. His asshole father had died while he was deployed and there just wasn't that much time when he was in the service. By signing up for extra tours, he and Merle were able to retire early.

Now they just wanted peace and quiet. It was just him and Merle, like it always head been. That was exactly how they liked it and wanted it. Merle couldn't wait to come back here and Daryl was along for the ride as usual.

"The blonde I was talking to. Sophia, that's her daughter." Maggie said.

He looked over at the teenage girl looking at apples with her friends. She was a cute kid, and she had her mother's personality clearly, from what he could remember of her. She was all fiery and bounced around like she had ants in her pants. Just like Carol was at her age.

She was leading that boy around by his nose too.

Daryl smiled, because he would have let her mother do the same to him if he hadn't been going to boot camp the next week. If she had even wanted him, which she didn't because he remembered waking up alone and he got the hint.

Still, as he got older his thoughts became less fearful and he was actually hoping to run into her now. She was married, obviously and it was too little, too late, and that was the story of his life.

Merle looked over at the girl too, a sweet little girl, blonde, with the clearest, bluest eyes he had ever seen…except, somewhere before. He noticed the cute little mole on her lip, just like….and then he looked at his brother, then he looked at the girl Sophia again. His wheels started turning just a bit, because that kid looked really familiar to him.

He was likely the only one in the room other than Daryl that knew they had slept together that time before he left and now he was doing some calculations in his head.

There was something brewing in the air, it was thick with the electricity of it and Merle could feel it swirling around them. Something was falling into place like some kind of cosmic coincidence around him.

He took a breath and looked around and then it all happened so quickly.

Daryl heard the bell on the door ring and he looked up as the door opened. All together Carol, Lori and Tara were coming in the store. They were laughing and talking like there wasn't a care in the world for them. He turned to Maggie with a question on his lips.

"Who did she marry? local guy?" Daryl asked Maggie, but not knowing why he was asking, really.

"Oh, she's not married." Maggie said and something flashed in his head as he looked once again over at the girl by the apples, but then it was gone. A flash of thought that was gone before he could even grab onto it and figure out what it meant.

He was missing something here, and he could feel it. He felt like it was something really important and it was just out of his grasp.

Daryl stood there looking at Carol, unable to move or stop staring, she looked just like he remembered. Then she turned and saw him, their eyes locked and the expression on her face was soft. She looked like she might cry.

And then she was in front of him, Carol his old friend. She recognized him immediately, of course she did, she had been looking at his face for the last fifteen years.

No one ever figured it out, she had always said Sophia's father was a frat boy from a college party that she had gone to with Andrea Harrison. No one ever asked questions, and as her daughter grew up she supposed that no one remembered what he looked like exactly.

She didn't want him to come back because he felt guilty, fate would bring him back at the right time for Sophia. Fate had a wicked sense of humor.

But here he was in front of her and his spitting image behind her looking for apples with Lori and the kids. Maggie and Tara were talking by the register and Carol was getting ready to face the music off to the left.

"Daryl, Merle." She said trying to sound like the earth didn't just tilt underneath her feet. She moved closer and smiled, trying not to give into the pounding in her ears. "Welcome back."

Merle leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Daryl stood there, not moving because there was _something he was missing still_ until Merle smacked his arm and then he leaned over and kissed her cheek too.

"Nice to see you Carol." He said.

"You too Daryl." Carol replied.

They all looked at each other. There was an obvious question looming over them. Carol knew that Merle knew about her and Daryl.

April 9th 1999

She had driven him home that night because he was drunk and poured him into Merle's arms. He kept kissing her and trying to get her to come in the house with him.

"Come on Carol, let's do it again." He said as Carol shook her head and looked over at Merle handing him Daryl's hat. "You can stay over, Merle wont care."

They both walked his drunk ass into the house and into his room.

She had helped Merle get him into his bed and before he passed out he said. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you." He grinned up at her trying to kiss her again. "For the best night of my life."

Merle had snickered then and looked over at Carol who was trying to get herself out of Daryl's grasp because he had tried to pull her down on the bed with him and now he was passed out.

"He won't remember in the morning Merle." She had said to him as they walked out of the room leaving Daryl snoring on the bed. "And don't you remind him."

"Why not cookie?" Merle said sarcastically. "Isn't this the start of something beautiful?'

She rolled her eyes ay Merle, because he could never resist teasing her.

"Merle." She hissed. "The last thing he needs is to worry about is me, he needs to worry about keeping his head down, both of you. Alright?"

And then she was gone.

"Beautiful kid you got there Carol." Merle said leaning back on his heels, with his hands behind his back. "Beautiful girl." He paused for effect. "So about how old is she…about fourteen, yeah?"

"Fifteen, she's fifteen Merle." Carol replied, Merle was doing the math. She blew a hair out of her face that had fallen over her eye.

He didn't say anything, just nodded his head. Carol was instantly struck by the knowledge that Merle knew. He knew and he never took his eyes away from her. There was no sense in lying, he was a smart man.

"She turns sixteen next month." Carol gulped, it was simple math, Daryl had left for the army in April 1999, and Sophia was born in December of the same year. Carol had just turned seventeen in February 1999 and Daryl was nineteen in June of the same year and already in the Army by then.

They had been so young.

"I'm gonna get me some more cider from Miss Maggie over there, maybe you two should have a talk, hmm?" Merle said. "No time like the present right?"

Daryl looked at her with questioning eyes, he had remembered everything the next day and he still did. He woke up and she was gone. He didn't think she would ever want to be with him that way, but he never tried either. He knew too, something inside him told him that he just saw his child for the first time. "Carol…I."

"It's true." Was all she said because what else could she say.

"I know, of course, I know." He said taking her by the arm and leading her to a far corner in the store, away from every one. His legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how to reach you. " She whispered. "You lit out of here like your ass was on fire."

He nodded because it was true. He kicked the dust off of this town and everyone in it and never looked back again. He forced himself to make a life away from memories of his father's abuse. It was a friendless existence and she had floated through his head more than one time over the years.

In all of the places he was sent to throughout the world he bought postcards. He never sent them though, too chicken shit as Merle would say. He told himself every time, _this time he would send them to her, but he never did._

He couldn't get out of his own head to actually do it, they all sat at the bottom of his footlocker in his new room.

The reality of what he let his fear keep him away from hit him right in the face. She would have told him if he had just reached out to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I wasn't here." He said suddenly filled with remorse for all the years he wasn't there and the knowledge that she had done it all alone. It hit him like a ton of bricks, she was barely out of high school at the time.

She must have been so scared. He felt sweat break out all over his face and his heart was beating out of his chest. He hated himself now. His father was right, he was just a fuck up and that's all he would ever be.

"Look." She touched his arm gently. "I think we've both had quite a shock, ok? I've played this out in my head a millions times and this wasn't how I thought it was going to happen. I don't know what I thought…"

She sucked in a breath and he just looked at her prepared to let her talk and get it all out. He was speechless right now anyway.

"It doesn't matter what I thought, you're here now. Are you staying?" She said.

He nodded. "We're here for good." He finally gulped out.

He was a man of very few words anyway. Now he was unable to say a thing, if he had come back he would have found out sooner. He should have tried; he was struck by the gravity of that one decision not to try.

"Do you want to meet her?"

That was an understatement, of course he wanted to meet her. He nodded so hard it looked like his head was going to bounce right off.

"Good, I want you to meet her." Carol said. "She's a lot like you."

"God help her then." Daryl said.

"You aint so bad." She bumped his shoulder with his. A gesture to show him that they were still friends.

"What did you tell her…about me?"

"Everything, your name, that you were in the Army, that we were friends. We were, we were good friends."

"The best." He grinned and nodded. "Still are I hope; I mean…I wanna be."

"Still have to be now, for her sake." She said.

He looked at her and realized he wanted to sat so much and ask so many questions but he couldn't put together a coherent thought. _He had a fifteen-year-old daughter._

"Did you really take her to Rocky Horror?" He asked, and he was grinning because he knew she did. Carol was always such a free spirit when they were young and he had loved that.

"What?" She asked. "How did you...?"

"The kids were talking about it; did you really go?"

She nodded. "Of course we did."

"Did ya dress up?"


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl paced out in the parking lot smoking a cigarette as Merle leaned on the hood of their truck. He lit a cigarette for Daryl and passed it to him as he walked past him. Daryl nodded thank you to him and took a long drag of the cigarette. He stopped and leaned next to Merle on the truck and blew the smoke out the side of his mouth.

Then he started pacing again.

Merle watched as Daryl wore a hole in the concrete of the parking lot, his poor brother was a wreak and this had turned into quite some crazy day. They had come in to get some cider and visit their new and old neighbors, a simple Saturday afternoon.

But it wasn't simple and never would be again. Daryl's life had just changed and this transpired in all of ten minutes. He was so incredibly blown away.

"Will you calm down?" Merle said.

"I can't, shit Merle. I…"

"Come on soldier." Merle said, lighting another cigarette. "You fought in Iraq and look at you, having a panic attack over a sixteen-year-old girl."

Daryl turned to him and stopped pacing. "I'm not like him."

"No, you aren't." Merle said. "Just have your smoke and calm down, kids can smell fear. You know that?"

"I know."

"Bet you wish you were still on the chronic don't ya." Merle cackled. "Help ya relax, a little spliff."

"Shut up Merle." Daryl said. The last thing he needed was to be stoned right now. That would make this ten times worse.

"She's a cute little thing that little girl though, looks like Mom."

"What do I say to her, she's fifteen years old?" Daryl said as he was starting to pace again. "Don't know what to do Merle."

Merle stopped him and put his arm over his shoulder.

"You just do the best you can. You didn't know, and now you do." Merle said. " You just be yourself, because you're an alright guy."

########

Tara had seen Daryl from a distance and did a double take. She tried hard not to react, and it wasn't easy. She and Carol had talked about this, what she would do if he ever came back. No one in their circle of friends knew who Sophia's father was. Carol had told a big fat lie so that no one would guilt him into coming home. Tara drew a deep breath in and let it out slowly, because this was it.

Then she saw Carol and him talking so she shuffled Lori and the kids over to the produce greenhouse, out of earshot. That needed to be a private conversation. Tara knew she was telling him.

It was going down and this day was taking a turn that she never saw coming. Carol always said if he ever showed up she would tell him right away, she would take it as a sign, and bingo here he was. Her friend was true to her word, that was for sure.

She saw the look on Daryl's face. He looked like he was in shock. Tara felt really bad for him, she knew this was the last thing he probably expected. But that's how life was. He was a big boy Tara was sure he'd adapt.

"What's going on?" Tara turned and Maggie was there and she scared the shit out of her. Lori and the kids were looking at fresh herbs a few feet away.

"Maggie." Tara whispered into her ear. "He's Sophia's father."

Maggie stepped back shaking her head. "Merle?"

"No." Tara laughed. "Daryl."

"Holy shit Tara, she never told me." Maggie whispered. "She said it was that guy from the party at Georgia Tech."

"She wasn't going to tell anyone, not even me but I guessed during Lamaze class when she was writing everything in the notebook for Sophia."

Carol kept a detailed diary during her pregnancy and after for Sophia and wrote in it until Sophia was six years old. Then she tucked it away for when she was older.

"There was a letter to him in the book and I saw it by accident." Tara explained. "So she told me and then she never sent the letter anyway."

"My god she must be freaking out right now." Maggie said and she looked over at Carol and Daryl. She looked fine actually, but Daryl looked like he had seen a ghost.

"She looks like him. "Tara said. "Now that I see him again, she had Carol's body type and eyes, but the rest. It's all him."

"Jesus, I didn't even know she slept with him." Maggie said.

"Slept with who?" Lori was suddenly next to them. Tara anxiously looked for the kids and saw they were still looking at the basil and rosemary plants. They were far enough away that they wouldn't hear them talking.

"That's Sophia's father." Maggie pointed towards Carol and Daryl in the corner of the store by the soda refrigerator.

Lori looked over. "Oh boy."

Tara and Maggie nodded in unison.

"She looks ok, there's no crying or fist fights going on." Lori said.

"She won't, she was never mad at him, or in love." Tara said. "She said she felt bad because he was leaving and they took off after his going away party to park out behind your father's corn field."

"Yeah just like every other teenage couple in this town." Maggie said laughing and nodding her head and the three of them giggled together. "So Carol threw him a pity fuck Before boot camp."

"Shit, here she comes." Lori said.

###########

Carol and Sophia walked along the rows of flowers out in the greenhouse talking. There were a few people milling around and Maggie was back at her post at the register. Lori and Tara were with Carl and Judith outside at a picnic table drinking hot cider.

From where they sat, they could see Daryl and Merle standing by the truck. Tara stood up and turned to Lori.

"I'll be right back." Tara said and she began walking towards them. Before she even got to them she had her arms up to hug them. She found herself in the arms of both Dixon brothers and someone smelled really good.

"Figured you might need that Daryl." She said as she noticed he was shaking. "Kind of a shock huh?"

"You knew?" He asked her.

"Yeah." Tara replied. "I knew. I'm the only one who did. "

"He's a little blown away there Miss. Tara." Merle said and they all leaned against the truck.

"Understandably, it's not every day you find out you have a kid you didn't know about." Tara laughed. "But you're a tough guy. You can handle this right?"

" I can, but why didn't she try to find me?" He asked.

"She did, after a while."Tara replied. "You were out of the country and unreachable, most times and no Facebook or Twitter."

"No, I'm definitely not on Twitter."

"I know." Tara replied. "I checked Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Plenty of Fish, everything, you have no social media."

"Come on Tara, does that surprise you at all?" He grinned at her shaking his head. "Twitter."

"No." She grinned. "It doesn't surprise me at all. Listen to me Daryl, this isn't on you, or her. She was afraid if you were all worried about her or a baby you weren't planning on that you would get hurt. You know. Out there." She pointed towards the fields but he knew what she meant.

"I would have come back. " he said.

"And that's why she didn't tell you. It ate away at her though. She knew it wasn't fair to you. But then by that time we did t know how to find you."

"I get it, I really do." He rubbed the back of his neck to try and ease some of this anxiety. "But she took it away from me. The choice."

" That's not really the point right now is it?" Merle said to both of them. "It's about that little girl there so don't either of you get this twisted, time to step up to the plate little brother."

##########

Carol took Sophia by the hand and started out telling her how much she loved her. Sophia looked over at her mother because she was a little scared, it seemed like such a serious conversation to have at the country store. But they always talked freely with each other. They were indeed best friends.

Still, it was odd that she pulled her away from everyone and asked to take a walk with her.

"Mom, what is it?" She asked barely able to hide her anxiety. They had no secrets so Sophia was getting spooked really fast.

Carol turned to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. "I don't know how to tell you this."

"Oh my god." Sophia couldn't breathe. "Oh my god, you have cancer." Sophia said tears forming in her eyes. Her worst nightmare was coming true, what she dreaded all her life. Her mother was going to die; this was a nightmare in the middle of the day. She didn't know what she was going to do. She could not bear losing her mother, her only parent, her best friend.

She didn't know how to do this without her mother.

"No, no honey." She hugged her tight so sorry that she scared her. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Oh, oh God, thank god." Sophia said hugging her back and not wanting to let go. "Then what is it? Why are you so serious?"

"Honey, I'm about to tell you something and once I do, our lives are going to change." Carol started to say.

"You're still scaring me Mom."

"Your father is here." It tumbled out of her mouth and now it was too late to take it back. Even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. This was fate acting just like she wanted, the timing was as it should be.

She blurted it out though because she didn't know what else to say or even how to say it.

"Daryl?" Sophia asked, and Carol nodded slowly.

Carol watched Sophia's face go through so many different expressions. She knew this was so unexpected and she didn't blame Sophia for being rattled. Carol let her process it for a minute. Finally, Sophia looked up at her.

"Where?" Sophia asked sucking in a breath and looking around. "Where is he?"

"Here out in the parking lot. He's been gone you know, in the Army. All this time."

Sophia leaned against the table of flowers almost knocking it over as she put all her weight on it. She needed something to hold her up. She didn't see this coming at all. She felt out of breath and scared, and that was not like her. She needed Carl and Judith right now and they were nowhere to be found. She pulled out her cellphone and shot a text to both of them.

"Can I meet him?" She finally said.

"I want you too, I want you to remember what I always told you. He was my friend, and I never told him you were coming. I'm not mad at him and it seems like he's moving back here." She said. " I know he would want to..."

"Fine, take me." Sophia answered crossing her arms over her chest.

###########################################

Daryl, Tara and Merle watched as Carol and Sophia came out of the greenhouse on the other side of the parking lot. Daryl sucked in a breath as he really took notice of her with new eyes. He studied her now, not like before when she was with her friends. But then again he hadn't known who she was to him then either.

Sophia was a petite blonde dressed in jeans and a concert t-shirt, no doubt her mother's influence at work there. It was Soundgarden. He knew that shirt belonged to Carol, he had seen her wear it when they were young.

His daughter was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on and he fell in love immediately. Tara motioned to Merle that they should step back a bit and they both did. They walked over to where Lori and the kids were and Tara introduced Merle to Lori and the kids Carl and Judy.

Daryl stood there as they approached shaking uncontrollably at the whole thing. He was a father, when he and Merle decided to come back here and put down roots where their lives had started, he didn't see this coming. Not in a million years.

His own father had been an abusive drunk and except for the little drinking he did before the Army, he stayed away from it now. He didn't smoke pot anymore either, that ended after his deployment. But he wished he had it now, because his nerves were shot to shit. He felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

He would do this right if it was the last thing he ever did. But he had no idea how to do that.

Carol and Sophia were in front of him before he knew it. Carol stood behind Sophia and held her shoulders, rubbing gently.

"Sophia." Carol started. "This is Daryl; I don't know exactly how to do this. He's my friend and well he's your father."

Daryl smiled at her and wondered if he was supposed to hug her. He wanted to hug her so badly. The desire to do that surprised him because he wasn't usually a physical person. He Took a step towards her but then she put her hand out to shake and he took it.

"Hi Daryl." Sophia said because she was damned if she would call him Dad. This was the most fucked up family reunion she had ever heard of. In her wildest dreams she never thought she would meet her father in the parking lot of Greene's Orchard. This just wasn't as she saw it going down in her head. In her head it would be a restaurant, she would love him immediately and she would walk towards him on a cloud. He would stand up and wrap her in his strong arms.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

"It's." He started to say that it was nice to meet her but that sounded so trite to him. He didn't know what to say. What do you say? He was so lost for words. So out of his element here.

He could give orders to hundreds of men but he was brought to his knees, speechless by a teenage girl.

Finally, he just said it. " It's so nice to meet you Sophia." He said and his face was soft with the joy he felt in that moment.

"Likewise." She said looking into his eyes. He seemed like a nice man, just like her mother had said. But she wasn't letting him off the hook. She wasn't five years old dreaming of Daddy coming back to make her life perfect. She knew the realities of life.

"I always played out how this would happen, since I was a little girl, I dreamed about you. I prayed for you to come back."

Carol breathed in sharply at her daughter's words, it was so much. She didn't know that Sophia did that. She had no idea she thought about him that much. True to form, Sophia didn't let him get in a word edgewise. He tried to speak but she wasn't having it.

"I never even had a picture of you. I thought about trying to find you." Sophia said.

Daryl stepped closer to her wanting to hug her but Sophia put her hand up to stop him again.

"I decided not to, because you weren't here." She said." I don't understand why you weren't here."

She kept her hand up, keeping him at a distance. She was not letting him in. Not before she said her peace.

"Where have you been? I had my tonsils out when I was seven, where were you? Every Christmas, every birthday, every little stupid goddam event in my life. Glenn took me to all my father daughter dances in girl scouts. You were not here. You don't get leave? Huh? You don't come to see anyone here ever. I'm turning sixteen. My mother and I were in a car accident two years ago, we were all alone. I had a fucking concussion. She had a broken ankle and still cooked for me on crutches every single day. Where the fuck was you?"

"I…uh …I just got out of the Army." He replied.

"And You never thought to come back here." Sophia asked. "My mother has struggled all my life to raise me and you were in the Army. Why didn't you ever come back?"

"He was in Iraq Sophia." Carol started to say. "He didn't know about you. I told you that."

"That war has been over a long time. Not even a picture Daryl. You should have been here." She said and she turned on her heel to walk away. "Thanks for serving." She called over her shoulder and dismissed him with a wave of her hand over to her shoulder.

Ever the polite girl even when she was telling you to fuck off. Carol had raised her right was his first thought as he watched her go.

Carol had taught her daughter to respect soldiers, because Sophia's father was one. Sophia knew that and whenever they saw a uniformed soldier in a store they would pay for his coffee or his bag of chips. Sophia did it too, even when Carol wasn't around. Whatever the soldier was buying, they paid for because they hoped somewhere, if Daryl was alive, someone was doing that for him.

Carol turned to him, as they watched her walk over to Carl and accept his hug. "Well, that went well. Told you. She's just like you. A little hot head."

"Hey. I wasn't that bad." And they both knew that was bullshit. He shrugged. "Could have been worse. I guess, will she stay mad is this how it's going to be now?"

Carol nodded. "For a while, we just have to give her time OK?"

"Aint got nothing but time Carol." He said leaning against the truck next to her." I ain't going nowhere now. And I guess you knew that already. "

"I did. Let it go. Ok. This is how it turned out. You needed out of this town. Away from him. I knew that and I wasn't calling you back over my decision."

"All I'm saying is it would have been nice to have a choice." He replied.

"He would have killed you." She whispered. "We all knew what he was doing to you. And to Merle."

"No. I would have killed him eventually."

"And where would you have ended up then? With no freedom to ever be a father to her. This way there's a chance. I'm sorry I thought I was doing you a favor."

He took her hand. "I guess you did, but no more favors and no more keeping me out of the loop ok? we start over from here then. All of us together."

 _ **A/N: Thank you to everyone who left me love. I am so glad you all liked it. To the lovely Anon who asked about Drag Me To Hell. I am working on it now, any of my fic that are not done will be finished within the next two months or so. Thank you again to everyone.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Carol reached into her back pack and Daryl was struck by how she hadn't changed at all, she still looked the same as when they were young. She still had the cute sweep of freckles across her nose and her auburn hair was still curly and long, but it was other things too. Not just her looks, but her personality, who she was. The things she did.

She still carried a backpack instead of a purse. She was the only woman he had ever met that did that. Through his travels he did see women with backpacks and then he almost always thought of her. But he never called her and they had been friends. He watched her looking through it and was suddenly so grateful that she wasn't mad at him.

He slept with her, and she was his friend and he never called her again. He didn't mean to pull such a dick move, it had just happened that way.

It was all water under the bridge now, they had a kid to raise. Sophia came first in his mind and it was clear she did in Carol's too or they wouldn't be standing here. Carol didn't have to tell him, at the time she didn't know he was here to stay, but told him right away.

This backpack she was rifling through now was leather and worn and it was clear to him that she still didn't follow the norms that most people did.

She always did her own thing and he suspected that was still true. He wondered if she still wrote poetry suddenly. Carol had an artistic side back in the day, she did yoga way before it was in vogue and she drank tea, not coffee. These were things he knew about her and thought about as he watched her rifling through her back pack as if they were still in school and he had asked for a piece of gum.

Daryl remembered in school how she always stuffed everything in the backpack she carried then, pens papers make up, whatever book she was reading at the time, everything she needed, it was in there. In high school he knew that she carried a journal in the backpack and that had her poems in it, he had never asked to read them, another regret. Those were piling up on him today.

Carol pulled out a notebook followed by her wallet so he guessed she did still write, and that made him smile. She was digging in her wallet and finally she got what she was looking for and shoved everything back in there.

She handed him two pictures of Sophia, one was her most recent school photo and the other was of her at about two years old. She had on a dress that was the same color of blue as her eyes, his eyes of course, and her hair was in ribbons and pigtails.

"I'm sorry I didn't try harder to find you." She started to say but her was already shaking his head.

"No." He said cutting her right off. "I didn't come back. You didn't find me, we were young and we made mistakes, both of us, but we get to make the right choices now."

As she handed him the pictures and he looked at them she spoke to him. "I have more for you, I saved them in case you ever came back, and we should exchange cell numbers."

"She's so beautiful Carol." He said with wonder and amazement as he pulled out his phone to add her in the contacts.

"She is." She took out her phone slid the screen to open." Give me your number and I'll call. Then you will have my number too and I'll text you Sophia's. You should call her or text. She's acting out because she got shocked today and trust me, she isn't a mean kid."

He reached for her hand. "Of course she isn't mean, you raised her."

His eyes gazed into hers and she was instantly transported back to that night for a moment. The way that he looked at her in the moonlight and the way he touched her. She never told him it was her first time, but she was sure he knew.

"Tomorrow night we're going to the Imax at the mall to see 'Suicide Squad', why don't you meet us there?" She suddenly said and it brought him out of his thoughts of what life could have been if he had stuck around. Would they have fallen in love if he stayed? The question was burning through his brain now. "Daryl?"

"Oh, you don't think she'll mind?" He asked, because he was listening to her and all the while daydreaming just a little.

"No she won't." She said knowing that Ed would mind, but she wasn't going to think about that right now. Her boyfriend was out of town on business until Tuesday and she would tell him then. But what was she telling him exactly? He knew Sophia had a father, obviously and he was back, it was that simple. So why did she feel like she was cheating by inviting Daryl to the movies?

"I got to say, I'm surprised you all haven't seen it yet, it's been out a while." He said, remembering another Carol fact now. Harley Quinn, her spirit animal as they would say now.

The girl who idolized the Joker's girlfriend was his daughter's mother. Life was always throwing you curve balls when you weren't expecting it.

"Oh we've seen it; this is number five." She said laughing.

"That why you drive that red and black jeep, huh?" He said smiling at her.

"How did you…"

"Jacob worked on it, right?" He looked over at the jeep parked a few feet away. "Saw your name in the receipts, your money's no good at that garage anymore."

"No, you don't have to do that."

"I know, but I am, you don't pay anymore and you need to let me know what else you need. I'm behind a bit but I'll catch up." He said giving her a slight grin.

They finished exchanging numbers and they leaned against the truck watching Sophia talking to the group by the picnic table. Merle was there and Carol was sure Tara introduced her. Sophia was smiling and laughing, Merle was too. She wasn't moping like her world had just crashed down on her. It was going to be fine.

##############

Carol and Sophia drove home together and Tara went with Lori, they were still baking pies that day even if Daryl Dixon came crashing back into their lives. Pies were serious business and they waited for no man.

"I invited Daryl to the movies tomorrow night." She said and looked over to where Sophia was sitting.

"Of course you did." She turned to her mother with wide eyes. "Mom, try and see it from where I'm standing."

"Oh I am, and you were really rude, way out of order." Carol said as she drove through the town they lived it. "I don't like it and you know it."

Sophia knew she was out of line, but she just couldn't stop her feelings from pouring out. Her mother wasn't like that, she held everything in, Sophia knew that. Sophia 'huffed' to herself, she probably got that trait from _him._

"I'm sorry, ok but you know me, I can't hold it in, I try so hard but…you always said he was like that, Daryl, is it true?" Sophia asked, now more curious about him now that she had seen him in the flesh.

"It used to be, yes."

"Then he'll understand."

"You better hope so, because I'm not having this. You don't get to be mean to anyone."

"Except Carl." She said pointing her finger at her mother and winking.

"I'm not addressing that with you right now. We're talking about your father now, not Carl and your love hate relationship with him."

"I won't call him Dad."

"Sophia I don't care what you call him as long as you're nice. Do you understand that?"

Sophia nodded and Carol nodded too.

"Good. This is strange to you, but it's a good thing, I really believe that." Carol said.

"I'm not holding my breath Mom. Aren't you mad at all?"

"Have I ever said I was mad at him?" Carol countered.

"No." Sophia said. "But."

"Then I'm not mad, look I get it, I really do." Carol said. "And I don't think he was expecting this either you know, but the three of us have to figure it all out now."

"Fine, but I'm calling him Daryl." Sophia said crossing her arms.

"Fine."

###################

"Well, that kid is definitely yours." Merle said as he strolled over to where Daryl was still leaning on the truck watching Carol walk back to her group. He saw her approach Sophia and the body language between them made it clear that there was going to be a fight.

Carol made no attempt to hide anything and Daryl could see her hands on her hips from across the parking lot. Sophia was shaking her head and Carol was nodding hers.

"What are you going on about?" Daryl turned to Merle.

"She's a little hot head, just like you were at her age."

"I wasn't no hot head." Daryl replied, offended that Merle even said that.

"You were suspended five times in tenth grade for fighting and mouthing off to the teachers." Merle pointed to himself as he spoke. "I know because I had to take the calls from the school so you didn't get a whooping."

"Whatever." Daryl replied.

"She's the spitting imager of you, but oh boy she was riled up, that's how I knew for sure." Merle said. "She shook my hand and said thank you for serving our country. She's something else for a kid."

"Yeah she really is." Daryl said as he watched them walk across the parking lot. Sophia looked over and he could swear she smiled at him.

"Guess we can mark this down as the weirdest day of both our lives huh, little brother?"

Merle nudged his shoulder. "Come on." Merle said walking around to the door of the truck. "Let's get some food, this little family reunion gave me an appetite."

"I told Carol she's getting free service from us from now on."

"Of course." Merle said starting the truck. "She's kin now, being that she already got _your_ free service."

Merle cackled his signature Merle laugh and Daryl told him to shut up as he watched Carol's jeep disappear off in the distance ahead of them.

#################

Daryl was early to the movies, Carol had said four pm, but he got there at three thirty. He sat on a bench in the mall in front of the movie theater still wondering how exactly this happened. He knew _how_ , but how did he not call anyone from home in fifteen years.

Surly someone would have told him Carol had a baby, and maybe he would have pieced it together sooner. He should have called her. But it did no good to beat himself up over it, he was here now and that was what counted.

He was not his father, and this girl was going to have every bit of the love that he had for her. He couldn't make up for not being here the last fifteen years, but he could make the next forty years of this child's life the best for her.

He looked up and saw Carol and Sophia approaching. They were dressed alike, both casual in jeans and t-shirts and each had a hoodie on too. Carol had her back pack slung over her shoulder and so did Sophia, they looked like sisters really, just with different color hair.

He stood up to walk to meet them and Sophia started talking right away. The three of them walked towards the movie theater.

"Hey." Carol said to him and he nodded his head to her. She noticed he had trimmed his beard and his hair was still wet from the shower he must have taken before he came. He smelled good too, she remembered his smell, he still wore that Kiehl's stuff, she recognized it immediately.

He always smelled so good, she sat next to him in a few classes and she remembered that.

"Hey." He said.

"We went to Five Below and got candy. You like gummy bears?"

"Love 'em." He answered. "They're my favorite."

"I got you your own bag, they're my favorite too." Sophia said. "You see this movie yet?"

Daryl shook his head. He knew this was her way of saying sorry without saying she was sorry. Teenagers didn't quite know how to navigate the waters of relationships yet, some adults didn't either for that matter. He would accept the gummy bears with a smile on his face and not harbor any ill will. He was the adult after all and she the child.

She had the emotions of a child still and he was sure the road would have a few bumps in it as the three of them navigated this new road together.

He trusted that Carol had dealt with it appropriately and he didn't need anything more.

"It's awesome, Harley is my favorite, but I guess you would know that." She said as they got to the ticket booth and Daryl took out his wallet.

"Yeah." He looked over at Carol and she grinned. "I did know that."

Carol tapped his arm and shook her head and he waved her off as he bought the tickets.

"And it's in Imax. You'll see it's the best."

"Been looking forward to this all day, popcorn?" He asked.

"I got that." Carol said and she started to walk to the concession stand.

"Hey, extra salt." Sophia and Daryl both said at the same time as they followed behind her.

 ** _A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I am trying to keep this as realistic as I can. As the mother of five teenagers I assure you they aren't always rational and there's a ton of drama, but they are always a joy. I don't write sunshine and rainbow stories but they are always happy, I think. I adore Harley Quinn by the way, if you didn't know by my avi, and am anxiously awaiting the chance to go to see 'Suicide Squad' myself. I can't wait! Five below is a cheap store that we go to here and load up on candy so we don't have to pay five dollars for a box of junior mints. Let me know what you think._**


	5. Chapter 5

The movie was just as Daryl thought it would be and sitting next to Sophia and having Carol on the other side was just about the best feeling he'd felt in a long time. They stuck him in the middle of them and he essentially held the popcorn and soda the entire time.

He didn't care. Merle would laugh at him maybe, for the way his heart was beating too fast and the way he was holding the soda so that Carol could take a sip, but again, he didn't care.

He had been lonely most of the time in the service, in every corner of the world and it was nice to be with people and not be working. It was nice to do something fun. He knew that a lot of the people he socialized with on the bases, liked him for his rank, or because of it. They didn't like him for the person he was inside.

It was nice to be liked for who he was and he knew she always liked him for who he was. Carol had once been a constant in his life, someone he depended on. He had been so afraid to miss her when he left, that he convinced himself otherwise and it made the days easier to get through.

Sophia pulled him out of his thoughts by asking if they could go to Chipotle and he looked over at Carol. She shrugged and he nodded his head to Sophia who broke into a wide grin.

When they got outside the theater and turned on their cellphones, Sophia's chimed a few times but Carol's went crazy, she had twenty text messages and three missed calls. Daryl's phone was silent, Merle knew where he was and the only other people that would call him were standing next to him.

She looked down at the phone and scowled. Sophia walked up behind her and Daryl behind her, he wasn't trying to be noisy but Carol looked distressed.

"Seems Ed's colleague came to the movies tonight and told him I was on a date." Carol said to Sophia.

"And he texted you that many times? Mom, that's messed up." Sophia said.

 _She had a boyfriend, of course she did. She was a catch._

So much for feeling guilty. He had just blown it with her by not giving her the benefit of the doubt. She hadn't seen his friend Jim but she knew who he was. He was a dick, and she was realizing so was Ed.

"Just ghost him Mom, seriously." Sophia laughed. "He's being a jerk."

"What's ghosting someone." Daryl asked as they walked through the mall towards the restaurant.

"It's when you just disappear, stop calling…" Sophia replied and then stopped walking. That was what he had done to her mother, she had put her foot in it this time and she didn't want to get into any fights again. They were all having such a good time.

Sometimes she couldn't believe herself, she needed to think before she spoke. Her Mom was always telling her that.

It was time to exit gracefully and hope everyone forgot what she had just said.

"Uh, I'm going into Bath and Body works for a second." She said and she disappeared into the store leaving them standing in the middle of the mall.

"You know, she cares about your feelings, that's her move when she knows she said the wrong thing. She makes an excuse and leaves the room. I think she thinks she hurt your feelings." Carol said as they leaned against an indoor fountain ledge waiting for Sophia to come out of the store.

"She doesn't have to worry about that, I'm a big boy." He said.

"She has a kind heart, yesterday was a rare occurrence and she knows she was wrong." She said turning her head to look at him.

"That's comforting Carol, but she doesn't have to tiptoe around me and neither do you, I won't do it either. This is what it is."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out some change and they both turned to the fountain. He handed her half of the change.

"We have fifteen years' worth of wishes to make here. Let's make them count, alright." He said smiling at her and they started throwing the coins into the fountain.

Sophia came around the corner in the store and saw them at the fountain throwing coins in and laughing together. They really were friends, after all this time. To her fifteen-year-old mind it was hard to wrap her head around it.

Clearly they were though, they had an easy familiarity with each other that she hadn't seen with anyone else in her mother's life. That ass Ed certainly didn't make her smile like that. Sophia had never seen her mother smile that smile that went right up to her eyes, not unless she was smiling at her.

She figured she was lucky; most kids she knew whose parents were divorced or just not together didn't get along. She had heard horror stories about custody fights and forced visitation, that was what scared her the day before. She didn't want that to happen to her, she hadn't known that people could actually be adults about this kind of thing.

All she knew was that her father was back and she didn't know who he was, she had panicked and she was just a little bit pissed. But fear was the heart of her anger at him.

She knew her mother wasn't even eighteen when she was born. That was only two years older than she was right now. Her mother had made the decision to let him go and do what he had to do and she raised her alone. Sophia knew there was no way she could ever do that.

Her mother was the strongest woman she had ever known, she once wrote an essay in school titled 'Why my mother is my hero' and Carol had cried when she read it. It was all true for Sophia and her mother was a super hero in her eyes.

She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of them together at the fountain, they were smiling at each other and there was a coin in the air between them that one of them had tossed. She quickly sent it to Carl and Judith with the text:

~ Out on a date with my parents, with a smiley face.

They ate at Chipotle and Carol's phone kept buzzing until finally she shut it off. Sophia gave her the side eye but didn't say anything. Daryl looked at the phone on the table and then looked at Carol. She just shook her head as if to say 'Don't worry about it' and he nodded his head.

Sophia watched this exchange between them and grabbed her phone to text Judith again. She felt like she was in the twilight zone and someone dropped her into a nuclear family. She saw her neighbors Rick and Lori carry on silent conversations with each other all the time, but they were married.

It was like he was offering to throw down on Ed for her mother, Judith would just die when she heard this.

"Mom says you used to have a motorcycle." She said, finally at the point where she wanted to know more about him.

"I still do, rode it here." He replied.

"What kind?" Carol asked. "Not that old dirt bike?"

He laughed. "No, this one's a Harley."

"A Harley." Sophia said he eyes going wide and he nodded. "That's bitchin."

"Merle has a Triumph, but I like Harley's better." Daryl replied.

"Well." Sophia said. "Of course you do. It's a Harley."

He laughed at that, she was the typical fifteen-year-old girl and she made him laugh the entire time they had been together. She thanked him for offering to take care of the jeep, named Harley Quinn and asked if he could take her home on the other Harley. Carol agreed, she had been on the back of his bike, she knew he was safe.

Once Sophia was out of her shell she talked and talked and talked. She told him all about her friends, about school and the classes she liked. She wasn't shy like him at that age and she had no problem asking him questions. That was all Carol.

She asked about Merle and about the Army, which he told her about. Daryl told Sophia that Merle had always called Carol 'Peaches' when they were kids because Merle said she was as cute as a Georgia peach, which entertained Sophia immensely. Then she asked how they had met.

"We met in fourth or fifth grade remember?" Carol said to him and he smiled. "I had just moved here."

"I remember." He said.

1993

They had bumped into each other in the hallway, he and Merle, who was a few grades ahead of them had knocked her books out of her arms. She looked at them frightened and went to get her books, but he was too fast for her. Daryl had picked up her books and apologized profusely. They both walked her all the way to her class on the other side of the building.

It was out of their way but Merle insisted.

By the time they got to her class they had all told each other their names and grade. And found they lived close to each other. Daryl had carried her books the entire time. She had a backpack slung over her shoulders, and it looked full too.

"She's cute like a little peach." Merle said as they walked away.

The next time he saw her was outside the school a few weeks later, he and Merle had been outside while Merle was smoking, Carol had burst out the side door crying, she kicked a rock across the courtyard and sat down on the ground.

She put her arms over her head and started to sob. Her red hair flying all around her face like a halo in the sunshine.

Shane Walsh had pulled her hair and Carol was upset because his mother and hers were friends. He came to her house all the time and she didn't like him at all. He was a sneak, when their mothers weren't looking he kicked her and pulled her hair. When they were looking he acted like they were best friends.

She hated him with every fiber of her being.

"Hey Peaches." Merle called over to where she had sat herself down on the ground leaning against the wall of the school.

She looked over with tears running down her face. She remembered them from the hallway, and sighed, more boys to bother her. Fantastic.

She wiped her face and looked at them.

"Don't cry." Merle said throwing his cigarette down. He was in eighth grade and already smoking and Carol was both intrigued and afraid of the two boys. They did walk her to class a few weeks ago and carried her books and knocking her books down had been an accident. These were nice boys.

"We were just going to the vending machines for a soda, you wanna come." Merle said and Daryl looked at him sideways.

"What are you doing man?' He said to his brother.

"Making you a friend." Merle whispered. "You need one."

And Merle was right he needed a friend and so did she.

2015

Daryl took Sophia home from the mall on the bike and Carol drove home in the jeep. She turned her phone on again and there were more text messages. She swiped the screen on her phone and dialed the number.

The voice on the other end was one of anger and she was not going to deal with it, she simply said what she needed to say and hung up. She ignored what he was saying but whatever it was, it was loud.

"He's Sophia's father." And she shut the phone off again. Just at that moment they pulled up on the bike. She watched as he took off his helmet and Sophia took off hers. She was struck with a memory just then of another time and another bike, it wasn't a Harley like this one it was an old dirt bike that he built himself.

1994

"You sure you wanna do this Peaches?" Merle said as Daryl revved the engine on his dirt bike. They were out in the woods and she was twelve, Merle was fifteen or so and Daryl was fourteen. She sat on the back of the bike behind Daryl. "You don't got to."

It was summertime and they were all hanging out in the woods that day. There had to be about fifteen teenagers out there. All dressed in jeans and t-shirts, all of the kids from the neighborhood that hung out in the trails.

There was a group of other kids behind them too, all watching and Shane was one of them. Maggie, Sean and Tara were there too. Daryl's girlfriend Kelly was there standing next to Andrea Harrison; who Merle was seeing. Their heads together watching what was transpiring on the dirt bike.

There was a boom box sitting on a log nearby playing some Metallica song and everyone was smoking. This was the typical day on summer vacation, all of them leaving their houses early and not coming home until dark.

"Carol, screw her." Maggie said. "She's just being a bitch for no reason, you don't have to."

Kelly had dared her to get on the bike while Daryl took it over a ramp and a dirt pit and Carol wasn't about to let any snotty girl get the best of her. She had been hanging with Merle and Daryl long enough now that she became tougher. She didn't cry anymore over people and their bullshit, she did something about it.

"Nope. I'm doing it." Carol said to Maggie. " That stupid Kelly Swanson said I was a chicken shit, I don't know what you see in her Daryl, she's an asshole." She said putting her feet up on the pegs.

Merle laughed, wiggling his eye brows at them and Daryl grinned. "She's got a big rack right brother?"

Carol hit Daryl on the back. "You are a fucking pervert."

He just shrugged.

"Heads up peaches." Merle said. "Here comes your man."

"She's a nasty bitch." Carol said and Maggie nodded vigorously. "Seriously."

"Jealous?" Daryl said looking back at her, shaking his hair to get it out of his eyes as he revved the engine again. They had an easy friendship with lots of banter, and they teased each other mercilessly. Merle was sometimes in the mix too, teasing them both but, they all had each other's back when needed.

Daryl grinned at her and saw Shane coming over towards them.

"You keep telling yourself that." She patted Daryl's back and Shane came over and kissed her for good luck.

"Don't hurt my girl Dixon." Shane said.

"Don't worry Walsh, I got this." He revved it again. "Hang on."

And he took off with Carol on the back down the trail and up the homemade ramp over the dirt pit. She screamed as they were launched over it, but they made it. They landed on the other side and both turned to the crowd on the other side of the pit and gave them the finger.

2015

Sophia shook her hair out from being under the helmet and handed it to Daryl as Carol walked over to them. The look on her face was the same look she knew she wore riding on a bike. It felt like flying, she used to hold her hands up to the sky on the back of his dirt bike when they weren't jumping ravines and dirt pits.

"Mom that was awesome, you ever been on a bike?"

She looked over at Daryl and smiled. "Once or twice."

Sophia was brimming with happiness, next door Judith came out on the porch, she looked over at them and then yelled into the house.

"There's no hog out here Dad." She called in and they could hear Rick laughing inside. Sophia took off to go see Judith yelling behind her 'Thanks Daryl.'

Daryl walked over to Carol and they sat on the front porch together. He took out his pack of cigarettes and offered her one. She shook her head.

"I quit a long time ago, Sophia learned all about smoking in school, you just wait." Carol explained. "She'll start on you too."

"I'm sure she will." He replied. "I wouldn't expect anything less from her."

"Some time I'll introduce you to Lori's husband, he's a good guy." Carol said. "Rick is the Deputy Sherriff actually, he took over when Sharpe retired, he's good people."

"Sounds like it." He nodded his head towards the Grimes house where Judith and Sophia were giggling over something on Judith's phone.

"She asked if I knew where this house was, I told her of course I did." Daryl said to her.

Late 1997

Carol came to her window when she heard the rocks hitting it, it was raining out and immediately she was upset because she knew it was him. No one else ever came to her window in the middle of the night but him. The fact that he was out in the rain only meant one thing.

It was well after midnight and she had been up writing poetry and listening to The Smashing Pumpkins. She looked down and opened the window to Daryl, and he was soaked and bloody. His face was cut and it looked like he was going to have a shiner in the morning.

"Jesus Christ, Daryl what happened." She asked, but she already knew, everyone knew. His father was the town drunk and he kicked the shit out of both of his boys when the mood hit him to do so. He must have been drinking again since it was the weekend.

Usually Daryl could stay out of his way, but sometimes the old man waited for him to get home, specifically to beat him.

She opened the window so he could step in. He had climbed the tree next to her house to get the few feet higher to get into her room. This wasn't the first time and that was the way he always came in after nights like this.

"What do ya think happened?" He asked.

She looked around for his truck outside but didn't see it. He wasn't supposed to drive yet but everyone knew he did. He had also taught her to drive already.

"It's down the street, you know in case your parents wake up." Daryl said. "Good thinking huh?"

She nodded going into the bathroom to get towels and wash cloths. She grabbed the band aides and bacitracin too. She returned with a wet rag and some things to fix him up.

"Where's Merle?" She said reaching for his wet shirt, he stopped her and took it off himself. She noticed he was wincing and it hurt her heart. He didn't deserve this, no one did but him especially.

"He was out and the old man was drunk again." He said taking the shirt and draping it over a chair. She looked at his back, there were old welts and new ones and she thought again how she would love to kill his father.

"Do you want some Tylenol?" She asked. "It hurts, I'm sure."

He nodded and she reached into her nightstand and got out a bottle and handed it to him. He opened it and took two out and dry swallowed them.

"Here." She said handing him her Tab. "Drink this before you choke."

He always let her take care of him, partly because she was going to be a nurse someday and already volunteered on the first aide squad once a week so she knew what all she was doing. But, partly because she was the only one he trusted.

Girlfriends came and went just like boyfriends, Kelly and Shane were long gone and there were others to replace them. But she was a true friend and they weren't easy to find.

They were best friends since that day he knocked her books down, thanks to Merle. He teased them that they should just date, since they both had such shitty luck in that department.

It was unspoken between them not to go there though, that wasn't how they were.

"This is bullshit; you have to get out of there." She said bringing a towel out of the bathroom that was next to her room.

"Merle's joining the service Carol." He said as she took a wash rag and wiped his face. "He's leaving in six months."

"Shit." She said.

"I'm going too, they won't take me till I graduate and I have to repeat algebra, then I'm out of here." He said allowing her to run the wash cloth over his chest.

This made her sadder than she thought it would. They used to lay on the roof of his father's tool shed and look up at the stars in the summertime. They talked about getting out, going away somewhere, she was going to college and she always thought he would go too. Maybe they could go together.

She listened to the song that was playing: **_Disarm you with a smile, and cut you like you want me to._**

"What about college?" She said cleaning and drying his back and chest. He was almost seventeen now his body was changing and she had noticed how broad his chest was now and how strong his arms were. He took the towel and dried his hair, he looked over at her when she wasn't looking.

She was so pretty, and somehow that had slipped past him until just recently.

"I'm not college material, you know that." He stood up and draped the towels over the chair with his wet shirt. "I'll kill him if I don't go Carol, you know that too, right?"

"I wish you would have more faith in yourself." She started to say, but he stopped her.

"This is what it is, I accept that." He said. "I want you to accept it too."

She nodded. "Just don't like it." She huffed.

He started to reach for his shirt to put it back on. "You won't miss me."

"What are you doing?" Carol asked.

"I gotta go, I can't…" He said. "I can't stay here."

"Get in the bed Daryl, I promise not to jump you, jeeezzz." She said.

"You promise?" He gave her that devilish grin of his that turned more than a few girl's heads at their school.

"Please, you're like my brother, this might come as a shock to you, but I am immune to the Dixon allure."[i]

"You sure?" He asked and his eyes were still twinkling, his smile wide showing his dimples.

"I'm sure, your safe with me don't worry." She said.

"Maybe I'm not worried about you." He said under his breath but she heard him.

"You are so full of shit." She laughed

"Set your alarm for five ok, I'll be out of here before they get up." He said as she reached over to the alarm clock and set it then she got under the covers. "Turn around."

"You are ridiculous; I've seen you in board shorts for God's sake."

He just gave her a look and she did as he asked, but she peeked just a little while his back was turned. He shucked off his jeans and got in the bed with her, his boxers were damp but they had to stay on. He pulled the blankets up to his chin and looked up at the ceiling.

"I really hate this music." He said.

"Tough, my room, my music."

"I gotta get out of here Carol." He whispered in the darkness.

"I know." She whispered back.

 ** _I used to be a little boy, so old in my shoes. And what I choose is my voice, what's a boy supposed to do. The killer in me is the killer in you, my love. I send this smile over to you._**

 ** _A/N: This gave a lot of backstory, I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think._**


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't get why you're cooking." Sophia complained to Carol as Carol stirred the sauce in the pot on the stove. They were cooking her famous spaghetti and meatballs to take over to Daryl and Merle the following weekend. They had gotten together a few times since the chance meeting at the Greene store. The movies had gone well but still things got awkward and tentative sometimes. It would get better and they were making progress, every day. Daryl called Sophia every day and texted, he kept in touch with Carol too. She understood he was trying to make up for lost time.

"They invited us over, shouldn't they cook?" Sophia said sitting at the island in the kitchen, her feet swinging back and forth.

Deep down Sophia wanted her father in her life, she had just been shocked. That was understandable and Carol had told Daryl to keep trying and she would eventually come around. It was going well with the two of them. Sophia gave him a hard time still, when she had it in her mind to, and he took it like a trooper.

She had questions, a lot of them and he provided the best answers he could and he was always honest. That went a long way with Sophia. Carol and Daryl were the same as they always had been, the best of friends and now co parents to this surprising girl.

"I don't suppose either of them ever learned how." Carol said.

Sophia packed up some rolls in a bag as Carol busied herself in the kitchen. She didn't say anything about them not knowing how to cook, she was considering this fact. They were two men who had lived on Army bases all over the world, how had they avoided cooking? Surely they knew something about a kitchen?

"That why you invited them to Thanksgiving." Sophia said.

"No, I invited them because they're family now."

Sophia nodded. "So you have to do all the cooking with these two guys? Don't you think they learned to cook?"

"Do you really want to eat anything two men can make?" Carol said. "Because I don't." Sophia shook her head laughing.

"I'm not calling him Dad." Sophia said. "I'm not ready."

"Its fine Sophia, you don't have to...ever, you call him what feels right."

"But, I'll call Merle Uncle Merle." She said grinning and her dimples were there, another thing she inherited from Daryl. Seeing them side by side so often now, in the few days since he came back, reminded her just how alike they were. They looked alike and their personalities were so close.

Sophia could be stubborn and Carol knew that some of that was from her but Sophia had his dimples and hair, why not his bull headed attitude as well.

Her merry personality was a mixture of both of them, and she was always such a happy child. Carol often was reminded through the years of him because Sophia had his laugh. She was also a little fireball, a dynamo with the genes to back it up. She learned to walk at eleven months and Carol had been chasing her ever since.

"Cookie, no one is asking you to call anyone anything." Carol said. "It's entirely up to you."

"Are you going to, get into it with him again?" She asked.

"What?" Carol was taken aback by the question. "Get into what?"

"Mom." She laughed as only a sixteen-year-old who thought they knew everything about life could. "I know how I got here."

"Sophia, he was my friend. I don't know how to explain this to you. He was leaving..."

"So you didn't date him at all?" Sophia asked. "You just..."

"No, it wasn't like that with us." Carol said. "It was…. It was complicated."

Sophia nodded. "Oh, so you weren't in love?"

"We were friends, we loved each other. But not like that."

Sophia looked at her mother who was right now copping to casual sex and she wanted to bust her ass about it. She wanted to so badly, she could taste it.

If it was any other subject she would, but this subject was too messed up. He parents had a one night stand essentially. It was almost funny, almost funny if it wasn't so messed up. This was her life, she thought to herself shaking her head.

"Do you even think it might be possible?" Sophia asked. "I mean, you know, you haven't been out much with anyone else and Ed doesn't even really count. He's a weirdo."

"It's not like that honey, I'm sorry I know kids always want their parents to be together, but I don't think in this instance that's going to happen." Carol said although she wasn't even sure if that was really true now.

"You aren't going to marry Ed though, are you?" Sophia said. "You said he wasn't the one, you said you weren't feeling it, well kinda, you said that."

"No, he isn't." She was feeling something but Ed wasn't involved in it. "Plus that whole stunt when we were at the movies didn't help either."

Sophia got off her chair and went to the refrigerator for a drink.

"How do you know when you meet the one Mom?" Sophia asked.

"You just know." She said.

"But what if you meet the one and you don't know it." Sophia asked. "It could happen, Mom."

"Then you cross your fingers and hope they know and they tell ya." Carol crossed her fingers and tasseled Sophia's hair.

She leaned back against the island in the kitchen. "Any more questions?"

Sophia sat back down and took a sip of the soda she got.

"So we're switching out Ed for Daryl at Thanksgiving?" Sophia giggled.

"Not exactly Soph." She grinned at her daughter. "But you can invite him to come with us to the mission if you want. And he and Merle are coming for dinner."

Sophia shook her head. "I was just wondering. I'll think about asking him, I guess." Carol continued cooking and she knew Sophia had questions she was afraid to ask. Any kid would, because this was so damn complicated.

"You ask me anything you want honey; you know I'll be honest." Carol said. "It wasn't a fairytale or some romance novel. But we cared about each other, your Dad and I and we still do."

Sophia leaned over the kitchen island at her. "I know Mom."

"It's unconventional, but you are so loved, by both of us, you know that right?" Carol. "I would never change a thing; not one thing?"

Sophia smiled wide. "I've always known that Mom."

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me, peanut." Carol said, using her nickname for Sophia, that she had used before she was even born.

"I hope you find the one Mom." She said. Then she whispered to herself 'Or maybe you already did.'

333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

1999 April

Maggie and Glenn were still inside with Tara and the rest of their group when Daryl and Carol busted out the side doors of the bar into the parking lot. The leaned against the railing outside by the parking lot and Daryl took the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it.

He took a drag and blew the smoke out the side of his mouth and handed the cigarette to Carol who took a drag. He downed the shot of whiskey that he had been holding and sat it on the fence pole.

"You know, I only smoke when I'm with you." She said laughing and blowing the smoke out. "Or if I'm drinking, which I'm not tonight."

"S'okay Carol." He slurred a little. "I'm drinking enough for both of us. Don't you worry about that."

"When I am drinking I'm usually with you, though." She said.

"What can I say." He shrugged. "I'm a bad influence." He smiled and winked at her as he took the cigarette back from her.

"No you aren't." She turned to him and he was still smiling. She knew he'd had quite a few shots and it wasn't a big deal because she was driving everyone home, but he was a silly drunk and sometimes he got suggestive. They had drunk together before and he always flirted with her, just little things, winking or blowing her a kiss, _touching her sometimes and more than usual_. It didn't make her uncomfortable but she knew it was the booze talking, and she could tell he was going to start in tonight.

"Your Mamma don't like me." He said knocking shoulders with her.

"She hates everyone, even me." Carol replied and she noticed he was inching closer to her, getting into her space. "I don't care what she thinks."

"I don't hate you." He said softly.

"And I don't hate you either." She said scooting down the fence to get a little space. He wasn't like this with any of his girlfriend's when he drank, she had been at enough parties with him to know. She actually didn't see him show much affection to them in public at all, but maybe that was because it was public. She didn't know what he was going behind closed doors and she didn't want to know.

Daryl never had problems getting all up in her space though in public, they had just been dancing and a slow dance came on and he insisted she dance with him because he was leaving. So she did, she never minded dancing with him because he always smelled so good.

They had danced at the winter formal until Carol's date cut in, but tonight neither of them had a date. They finished the dance and then both decided they needed some air. It was a warm April night and the stars were all out.

"Where ya going?" He said as he scooted down the fence towards her. She pushed herself off of the fence and turned towards the parking lot to look up at the sky and he was right behind her.

"Nowhere, just looking at the stars." She said turning and leaning on the car in front of them. "You're going on a great adventure Daryl."

"I never thought the day would come, I been waiting a long time for this." He said leaning sideways next to her. "I'll miss you."

"Oh, sure you will." She said laughing. "You aren't going to miss anything about this place."

"I'll miss one thing." He pointed to her.

"Sweet talker." She grinned and he grinned back at her, his dimples showing and she couldn't deny how good looking he had become. "Seriously, are you excited?"

"I can't wait." He said, but she knew he wasn't being honest with her. His tone of voice was off and she could tell right away. She would wait him out because he would tell her eventually.

They stood there sharing the cigarette for a few minutes, looking at the stars. He really was going to miss her and already he was thinking of when he could come back to see her.

"It's a big world out there." Carol said. "Make sure you see it all, ok for me too, cause god knows I'm not going the places you'll be going."

He turned to her suddenly. "I think the only thing I'm gonna be seeing is a desert. Merle says there's some shit going on again, like Desert Storm."

"Fuck." Carol murmured slowly. "You be careful."

He nodded. "I will."

"Merle's sure about that?" She asked and now she was afraid for him, but she couldn't let him know that.

"Pretty much." He said trying not to sound as scared as he really was, he didn't want her to think differently of him. He took out another cigarette and lit it, passing it to her and then lit another for himself.

Carol decided to distract him from the topic, because it was getting too heavy to bear or think about. Carol didn't want to think about what could happen to him. He was doing this to get away from his abuser and it wasn't fair that this was his only way out.

She was going to miss him. She missed Merle when he left and she knew this was going to be bad.

"I bet you'll look cute in a uniform, drive all the ladies crazy."

"Already driving them crazy Carol." He said, and then he stopped and looked right at her. "I'm scared."

She looked in his eyes and she saw it, fear. She never saw that in his eyes before. Carol had seen a lot of things in his eyes over the years, but even after the worst of beating from his father she never saw fear there.

Carol leaned closer to him she was aiming for his cheek, just to give him a little comfort and he turned suddenly to say something to her and their lips met. It was brief and they were both startled by it, but then he pulled her closer and kissed her for real.

He tasted like whiskey and cigarettes and the feel of his tongue against hers made her stomach lurch in a way that she never felt before.

She had kissed other boys before, but it never felt quite like that before. She wondered if he felt it too and then he let out a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a moan and she knew he did.

Daryl moved so that she was up against the side of the car and he was against her. She could feel his body in a way that was different than dancing. They had ridden on his dirt bike together, danced and laid in the same bed before, but they had never been exactly this close.

She wound her fingers into the collar of his t-shirt.

Then he pulled away slightly. "Shit…shit, I'm sorry." He didn't know what got into him, he felt her lips against his and even though it was an accident he hadn't been able to stop. He hadn't wanted to either. "I'm sorry Carol."

She pulled him closer to her gently. "Kiss me again."

So he did.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: This is what happens when I listen to Dave Mathews. I hope you all enjoy and will let me know what you think._**

2015

Daryl drove down the familiar roads of this town, a few weeks after the movie, thinking of how they had changed and not changed in over fifteen years. Most towns were more built up by now but this one stayed the same. After all these years it was still small town America here. It was comforting in a way, the lack of industry, the farmland that was still there. He left here a young kid, shaking in his boots about his future, wondering if he would even have a future.

And now he returned, older and wiser, so to speak and it hadn't changed. The roads were full of memories though. He drove down these roads a million times as a kid, as a teenager, and one night a few days before he left for boot camp. He drove to his destiny and he didn't even know it.

He and Carol had been out that night with Maggie, Glenn, Tara and a bunch of other people at a local tavern that served minors. Carol was the designated driver and she was driving his truck, he had taught her to drive a stick shift months ago.

They were all buying him drinks and he was taking them to try and quench the fear that was always on the surface of his mind.

It was his going away party and he was leaving in two days for boot camp. Merle had been home on leave, for a little while and they were going back together.

Daryl was scared to death and couldn't tell anyone. He couldn't tell Merle or any of his friends, it wasn't what was expected of Dixon. Dixon's didn't get scared.

The Army was his only choice now that the old man was getting worse with his fists and Merle was already in the Service a year. He had nowhere else to go, and he needed out before he killed his old man or was killed by him.

But he was scared and he allowed himself to be vulnerable with her. Carol would be the only person he would let see him this way. She had seen him so much worse, she would understand him, like she always did.

Somehow they had ended up pressed against each other in the parking lot of the tavern and he had kissed her. It was innocent at first, and she was going for his cheek. But he had turned his head at the last minute to say something and her lips landed right on his.

Before either of them had realized, they had been kissing for ten minutes. Then he was asking her to drive them to the back road behind the Greene's farm after she dropped everyone else off. That was where everyone went parking and they both knew what he was asking. He remembered she said. " You're drunk." And that he had looked up at her through the fringe of his bangs and said. "I might never see you again."

He remembered everything about that night, and he hadn't been that drunk. They never discussed it but he was pretty sure it was her first time and it had been his.

1999 April

It wasn't like kissing anyone else had ever been. He was almost nineteen and he had kissed his fair share of girls. This was so different. Carol had always said he was like her brother, but she wasn't kissing him like a sister would and the feelings it was stirring up in him weren't brotherly. Not by a long shot and neither were the thoughts going through his head now.

She tasted like sunshine and he felt like he was under some spell while he was kissing her. The blood was pounding behind his ears and he realized, no one ever made him feel like this before.

He felt like he had a fever all of the sudden and like his blood was going to boil and over flow. There was a slight chill in the air but he was burning up.

It was a cool night out, and not quite summer yet. Still, nice enough to be outside and they didn't need coats anymore. But he was _warm, so fucking warm all of the sudden._

Daryl's hands were on her waist and under the back of her shirt and she didn't stop him. He rubbed his thumbs in little circles on her lower back and he felt her shiver at his touch.

Carol could feel it too, that electricity, that feeling like there was something happening that neither one could control when he touched her. She didn't know what to do with her own hands and finally she settled for the same, running them along his back and dipping them down slightly into his jeans.

It was on, and he had no idea how it had happened. They had come outside for a smoke and to talk without the noise of the bar or the people and the music and now they were starting down a road that was so dangerous.

Daryl could hear the music playing inside. It was 'Teen Angst' by Cracker, that was Maggie's jam and they knew she was at the juke box loading it up with quarters and picking her songs. The words were vibrating through his ears as he kissed her and pulled her close to him, digging his hands in her hair and devouring her like a starving man.

 ** _I don't know what the world may need, and I never grasped your complexities._**

 **** ** _I'd be happy just to get your attention._**

 ** _I don't know what the world may want, but your long sweet body lying next to mine could certainly raise my spirits._**

They were out there for at least ten minutes and not missed by anyone. It was like they were the only two people left in the world. The parking lot was empty and if he was a different guy he'd have thrown her on top of the car already.

But he wasn't that guy.

Finally, he stopped kissing her and set his forehead against hers, her eyes blinked up at his and the eye contact was almost too much. He didn't know what to do or say and he didn't want to _stop._

He smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hi." He said softly, like a prayer.

"Hi." She replied and he kissed her again, he didn't have to try and gain entrance into her mouth, she was right there with him. The booze and the music was going through his head at a rapid speed and his inhibitions were quickly flying out into the wind that was blowing across the parking lot.

It figured it was her all along, and in his mind he had always suspected it. He forced himself not to play games and not to be the way he usually was with her. He hid behind the mask of humor, but even he knew when he drank his true intentions to her came out.

She had just never taken him up on it.

He was leaving in two days, there was no time to waste. It was now or never, literally.

"You want to go somewhere and be alone." He was surprised he even got the words out, they got stuck in his throat, but finally he got them out. Then he was doubly surprised that she said yes with no hesitation at all.

 _This party was over._

He took her by the hand and led her back into the bar, but before they went in, he stopped and kissed her again in the lobby and then burst back into the bar.

Maggie, Glenn, Tara, Shane and a few other kids they knew from school were all sitting at a table in the back of the party. If anyone noticed he was holding her hand, no one commented at all. That other Cracker song was on now "Low" Maggie was so predictable.

"Who's catching a ride with us." He said to the group. " We're out."

"What's the rush Dixon." Shane asked.

"Got shit to do, if you all need a ride, let's go."

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They parked back behind Maggie's fathers corn field after they took everyone home. It was dark but they could see the lights of Maggie's house in the distance on the other side of the corn. The sky was full of plenty of stars but no moon and it was starting to get chillier. He rolled up the windows and put the radio on nice and soft.

They were the only one's there, probably because it was a weeknight and most kids were home sleeping. If he wasn't leaving that Friday with Merle she would be one of those kids' home sleeping, but she wasn't.

If it was the weekend there would have been no privacy and maybe it would have been different, but something was meant to happen that night and every step towards it brought them closer to a destiny neither of them saw coming.

She wasn't home in bed.

Tonight she was listening to Dave Mathews 'Crash into me' and laying down on the bench seat of his truck.

 ** _Sweet like candy to my soul._**

He settled down next to her and pushed a lock of her hair out of the way of her face and just looked at her. Why hadn't this ever happened before, but he already knew the answer to that. He was afraid he was going to die and she was afraid he was going to die.

Fear could be a great motivator when a person was going away for a long time, possibly into a war. It could make you cross lines you swore you would never cross and do things that you wanted to do only in your deepest darkest dreams.

Daryl couldn't stop kissing her, and he knew it was because it was both the first and last time. The timing had been so off it was almost funny, except it would never be funny that they were going to be separated, just when they realized something could have been.

 ** _Touch your lips, just so I know._**

 ** _In your eyes, love, it glows so._**

 ** _I'm bare boned and crazy for you._**

As they laid there touching each other's hair and kissing it was unspoken between them…. goodbye.

It was the sweetest of goodbyes, in all of his life there would be none as sweet as that night in his truck. There would never be another girl like her, he would look all over the world for one, and never find what he had left behind that night.

He remembered every moment with her, the way her eyes shined, every whisper and every sigh, every touch.

They explored each other completely, losing clothes with shaking hands and soft touches. Their hands and lips all over each others bodies until there was a soft layer of steam on the windows.

They did all the things they dared not ever think about through the years of their friendship, but that didn't matter now.

All that mattered was comforting each other in any way that they could and living in a moment that had always been right at their fingertips.

They might not ever see each other again.

"Do you want to." She asked as he was bringing his head back up over her stomach while her breathing came back to normal.

"We don't gotta." He said, completely mentally satisfied by giving her pleasure. Physically, he could take care of that later, although the feel of her hands on him was making it difficult to think straight.

It was different when someone else touched your dick, he was slowly learning tonight what Merle had been going on about all this time.

"I want to; do you have something?"

He reached down at their feet for his pants. "You do know my brother, yeah?" He said laughing and pulled a condom out of his wallet.

She nodded.

"Are you sure." He said. "We can stop."

She whispered. "I don't want to stop."

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He woke up the next morning in his bed to his radio alarm playing that song by The Verve about taking someone down the only road I've ever been down. He knocked the clock on the floor and looked over, searching for her.

He remembered her driving him home, because she was the sober one and Merle helping them in, but he thought she stayed.

They were leaving tomorrow.

There was pounding on his door and he covered his head with a pillow, but that wasn't enough to settle the hangover.

Then Merle busted in the room.

"Bout time you get up, yeah?"

"Where's Carol?" He asked, looking behind him to see if she was in the kitchen.

"I drove her home last night…you remember last night brother?"

Daryl nodded rubbing his head.

"You got trashed, bet you got a hangover dontcha." Merle laughed.

"Yup." He flopped back onto the bed.

"You remember last night at all?" Merle asked leaning in the doorway.

Daryl shook his head slightly. "Bits and pieces."

"You remember what you were saying to Peaches?" Merle said. "Asking her to sleep over?"

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Ok, that's good." Merle said. "Cause it seemed like, to me that Peaches popped your cherry last night…finally. You were going on and on about it before you passed out."

"Don't talk about her like that." Daryl replied sharply.

"Hey." Merle put his hands up. "No harm meant, you know how I feel about her. But tell me brother."

He pushed off from the door way and approached Daryl, who was sitting up on the bed holding his head in his hands.

"I was right, wasn't I?" He said. "Aint nothing better than pussy in this whole world."

"Merle!" He said.

"You know I aint lying, you were like a blithering idiot when she got you home last night and I know why. Took you long enough, though. Almost ten years to get between that girl's legs, what a waste."

Merle shook his head.

"And now I gotta leave, so tell me Merle." He sat forward. "What kind of guy does that make me?"

"Aint like you won't ever be back." Merle said. "She's yours, always has been."

Daryl shook his head. "I don't want her to wait, it's not fair and I don't want to ruin her life by asking her to."

"Suit yourself, but she would." Merle said. "You know it."

"Let's just pack our shit and go." He stood up. "I'm ready to go."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: My computer is cranky today, the next two chapters are supposed to be one and she wasn't having it. So Two updates in one day, this may be a first. Hope you will let me know what you think. xxxxxxxx Krissy**_

He was pulled from his thoughts by a sight that didn't register for a minute. It was 11:30 am and there was Sophia and Carl walking down the street. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and they didn't have half day. In the three and a half weeks since he had gotten back Carol filled him in on their routine.

Sophia didn't get out of school until 2:30. He knew because he was meeting them to go to the mission tonight to start working on the food for Thanksgiving. They were feeding over a hundred people the next day and he couldn't be happier.

Merle was showing up to help too and then they were all eating dinner together, he couldn't believe how things had turned out.

Carol was a good woman, she fed the homeless and she threw him a bone because he was leaving for boot camp. That resulted in the truant child he pulled over in front of on the side of the road. Life had a funny way with bringing people full circle.

He heard Sophia say to Carl. "Oh fuck, its Daryl." And he had to suppress a laugh, because he was sure he had just caught them cutting school.

"You kids need a ride?" He said getting out of the truck and as they turned and then he saw the black eye Carl was sporting. "What happened?"

"Fight." Carl replied. "Reagan told us both to go home and stew over the break."

"You punch him Sophia?" But he knew the answer already, of course she did. She was a scrapper, just like he had been. She was his little girl.

"Yeah she punched me." Carl replied as they walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Sophia got in first to sit next to Daryl and then Carl was by the window.

"Hey Daryl." She said giving him her smile that was so like his, and he knew he was being played.

Daryl put the truck in gear and started off again. He would get the story behind this. "You two have a disagreement."

Carl nodded. "It's cool now, we figured it out."

"Good, I'm glad, now both your mothers work at Grady right?" Daryl asked and both kids sunk down in the seat. "Where's Judith?"

"Ah." Sophia started. "She wasn't involved in this particular altercation."

"So she didn't get suspended, just you two."

Carl nodded. "Right."

"Text your Mom Carl, I know we can't bother Carol on the floor but your Mom can get a message to her." Daryl said. "She can tell Carol, you two are with me."

Carl reached for his phone, swiped it and started typing out a text. He held it up for Daryl to look at and then hit send.

 ** _~Hey Mom, Soph and I got in trouble in school, we are with Daryl, Judy is still at school._**

"And you." Daryl addressed Sophia. "Keep your hands to yourself from now on, yeah?"

"Mom said you threw a couple of punches, back in the day." She huffed at him.

"That is no longer my policy kid, we're talking about you and I will kick your ass and his if this ever happens again." He said.

"Yeah, you and who else." She said grinning at him.

Sophia's phone rang, the ringtone was 'For whom the Bell Tolls' by Metallica and Daryl grinned. She was her mother's daughter too.

"Hello, yes Mom, yeah I hit him. Its personal, yes between Carl and I. But we worked it out. Yes, we both got suspended, yeah he's here, ok."

She handed the phone to Daryl. "She wants to talk to you."

He took the phone from her and put it to his ear. "I'm driving, yeah, I got this, Imma just take them to the mission now. Already did, I know shocking right? Sure babe, whatever you want."

Sophia peered over at Carl who quirked an eyebrow at her. Babe?

"Alright see you at four." He clicked off and handed Sophia the phone. "I think you're grounded."

"No doubt." Sophia replied.

"You get any hits in there Carl?" Daryl asked.

"Fuck no, she's a girl, I'd never touch her." Carl said, knowing Daryl was testing him right now and damned if he was going to fail.

They drove in silence for a few minutes each one of them re thinking their positions in this situation. Daryl didn't want to be too nonchalant, but he also didn't want to step on Carol's toes.

"Good answer, kid." Daryl said.

Carl looked over at him and nodded. "I swear man; you have my word."

"And whatever it was ya'll worked it out and there's not gonna be anything more like this right?"

They both nodded.

"Just because he's a guy doesn't mean it's ok to hit Sophia, you get that right?" He said to her as they pulled into the mission parking lot.

"I know, I just lost my head and reacted." She said as they got out of the truck.

"Were you really in Iraq, Daryl." Carl asked and Daryl nodded.

"Did two tours there." He said. "I'm glad I'm here instead of there."

"I guess so, sorry for the trouble today. Soph and I are friends, sometimes we get carried away is all." Carl said.

Daryl nodded and Carl nodded back a gentleman's agreement of sorts, but Daryl wasn't done addressing this. This just wasn't the time or place.

Sophia and Carl led the way into the mission back door that led into the kitchen and were greeted by Tara and Glenn. Maggie would join them later after she got done working.

"Hey, you guys are early." Tara said and then she stopped short. "Nice shiner kid."

"Well, he was running his mouth Tara and he dared me to, so…"

Daryl looked over at Sophia. "Really?"

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "He was asking for it."

########

Carol and Lori arrived later on as the kids were in full swing cooking with Tara, Glenn and Daryl. They joined in as they always did and soon Daryl was next to Carol. Maggie was in the dining room with a girl named Karen setting the tables.

"You teach her how to box?" He said bumping her shoulder with his.

"She gets that from you." Carol replied letting a slow grin creep across her face.

"We need to watch those two." Daryl said as Lori walked over.

"This isn't the first time; they've been doing this since they were kids." Lori said. "They fight and make up, then they fight and they make up."

Lori grabbed a dishtowel and started to dry the dishes on the other side of Daryl. He was surrounded by women now, by mothers.

"What time tomorrow Carol." Daryl asked, feeling like the case was closed with these two. Carol and Lori were used to this with the kids, but it was all new to him. He would get used to it soon enough he supposed.

But he would also speak to Rick Grimes and Carl first chance he got.

"Dinner at three and tell Merle I got his text he can bring Andrea."

"Andrea Harrison." Lori asked. " I remember her."

"Yeah, they ran into each other at the diner where she works, been going out a week or two now."

"She was a wild one." Lori said.

"Yeah, that's how my brother likes them." Daryl said.

"We'll have fun tomorrow." Carol said. "Sophia and Carl are going to have to do all the dishes and what else Lori? We can send them to Herschel's over the weekend to shovel out some stalls too, hmm?"

"Oh snap, looks like getting suspended isn't going to be the good time everyone always thinks it's going to be." Lori said.

"You guys are rough." Daryl said whistling.

"We are." Carol said. "Don't you forget it either, you'll want to stay on my good side."


	9. Chapter 9

1999

He stood on the tree limb looking in the window to see if she was awake. She liked to sleep, and they did get in at four am, but he couldn't leave without saying goodbye. He had to see her again in the light of day, just to tell her he would always think of her.

He watched her roll over and then he rapped softly on the window.

She rolled back over and was startled for a moment, but then she put one finger up and got out of bed. She walked over to the window and opened it to him like she had done so many nights through the years. He was still hesitant, and this was going to be hard.

"Come in, Its ok." She said.

He shook his head. "I can't Merle's waiting in the truck, we're going."

"And I was hoping you were stopping by for a quickie." She laughed and his face turned red. He hadn't expected her to bring that up, and half of him wanted just that.

She was such a smartass all the time that he didn't know if she was serious. He gulped and almost lost his balance and fell out of the tree.

"Merle can wait." She said. "Come in."

He stepped through the window, waving to Merle that he would be down soon. Merle got out of the car and leaned against it lighting a cigarette.

"I just wanted to say goodbye, I don't know…"

She put her hand up. "Don't, I told Merle not to tell you I was there last night."

"Well, there was no way I could forget, Carol." He went to hug her and she allowed him to. It felt good and different now after the night before. "I won't ever forget."

He wanted her again, desperately. She was warm and he wanted to lay down in that bed with her and make love to her again.

"You have to, ok. You told me yourself there's shit going down and you can't afford to be thinking of me. I'll be mad if you do. So don't. Worry about keeping your head down. Don't call me, and don't write."

He pulled her closer. "Then this is it?"

She nodded as he ran his fingers through her hair. He wanted to memorize her smell and he breathed her in and never forget how good she felt.

"Just get out while you can, this was what you wanted since Merle went in, last night doesn't change that and I'm not sorry." She said. "So go. And make a good life."

"I'll be back one day." He said.

"When we're old and gray and thirty, now go." She hugged him tight. She wanted to tell him to stay and it was the hardest thing she had ever done to not do that.

She knew this boy, if he thought she was waiting for him, he wouldn't be able to concentrate, that was a risk she didn't want to take. So she gave him another hug and watched him go out the window and climb back down the tree.

She waved good bye to Merle too and he waved back to her.

"See ya Peaches." He called to her.

"See ya." She called out the window.

 ** _Disarm you with a smile and leave you like they left me here. To wither in denial._**

 ** _The bitterness of one who's left alone, oh the years burn._**

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Carol had just come home from walking around the neighborhood with Sophia in the stroller that day. When she turned on the TV and set to make breakfast for them both, she was pierced with incredible fear as she watched what happened. It was a knife through her heart and so unbelievable. It couldn't be true.

Not on that day, it was too perfect of a day, she was off from work and had the whole day with Sophia planned.

It was a beautiful outside, she would always remember how clear the sky was and how fluffy the clouds were. It wasn't supposed to happen; how could it have happened.

It like any other fall day and before it was over not only would she be different than she was, the whole country would be. She was making pancakes for Sophia, years later she would remember that, but then again she remembered every moment of the day.

Carol spent the day walking around like a zombie while her parents were calling relatives that lived there, people they knew who were in the buildings. She had someone to worry about to, in fact two people and that's where her thoughts went immediately. Daryl, where was he? Where was Merle?

He had done as she asked and not called or written and now she realized she wanted him to

She watched in shock as the news reported what had happened September 11th 2001. Being in Georgia didn't make her immune, her cousin worked in tower two.

The wouldn't find out until the next day that he had survived by not going back to his desk when he was told to. They gave the all clear and Jimmy said that he and his workers were getting out, that decision saved him and twenty of his co-workers.

Carol knew they were going to war now and somehow she knew; he would be there. She spent the day on the couch holding Sophia and watching the news as if somehow that would give her a clue as to where he was.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: I took a few writing liberties as you will see. Thank you for rerading. Please let me know what you think :)**_

The food was all ready by nine that night. The group of them went to the diner after wards and dispersed in the parking lot from there. Lori's husband Rick and Judith joined them and he and Daryl found they had a lot in common in the few times they had seen each other.

They talked easily with each other now about almost any subject which struck Carol. He was so different now, gone was the shy boy that left. He came back a man, in every sense of the word.

They all stood in the parking lot talking and Carol mentioned she was going to the store for some last minute Thanksgiving things for tomorrow. She had forgotten to buy turnips and they were Sophia's favorite.

"I'll follow ya, you two shouldn't be alone this time of night." Daryl said lighting a cigarette as they walked towards their cars.

"Fine, I'm riding with you." Sophia said as Carol got into her car and shut the door mumbling 'whatever'.

Sophia stood there watching them together for the hundredth time, again thinking her mother was so different with him. Daryl leaned into the window and whispered something to Carol and then kissed her cheek. Sophia saw how her mother smiled up at him and she never quite saw that look on her face before.

"See you there." He said and they looked at each other, he was close to her and close to kissing her but instead he nodded his head. She looked up at him and he was reminded of how she looked at him that night, sixteen years ago. The night they made Sophia.

Carol still looked as beautiful to him as she did then. Her hair was just a little bit shorter but still a wavy mass, that reminded him of a red waterfall. Her skin still freckled across the bridge of her nose and her eyes so bright and blue. Fuck if he wasn't falling again.

"I saw that." Sophia said as he got in the truck and she slid in on the other side.

"Saw what?" He said taking a drag of his cigarette and blowing it out the window. Then he threw the butt out the window, so that he wasn't smoking with Sophia in the truck.

"You were totally macking on her." She said.

"Whatever that means?" He said, realizing he had to get up with the lingo of the times if he was going to keep up with this kid. He thought he could figure out what she was saying though from her shocked tone of voice.

"You should go for it, she dumped that beast Ed." Sophia said as he started the car. 'Crash into you' was on the radio and Sophia reached to turn it up.

"Mom's favorite song." She said looking over at him.

He remembered that song, he remembered it well because he had replayed it in his mind on so many lonely days and nights through the years. The song and the memory of her and how she had helped ease his fears for a little while.

He had never totally forgotten her, although he tried so hard to do just that.

"Yeah, you probably knew that." She put her foot up on the dashboard. "It's like the only mellow song she likes. She plays it when she's happy and when she's sad, it's weird."

She looked over and he was nodding with a funny smile on his face as they followed Carol to the store.

"You like that stuff she likes? Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins?" She asked. 'That grunge stuff."

"I'm more of a Dave Mathews fan." He said and he couldn't stop the grin on his face from becoming a full smile.

"Why do I think that's some kind of weird thing between you two that I don't wanna know about?" Sophia said, making it clear she did not want to know.

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He sat down on the front porch next to her after Sophia went inside and it was just the two of them now. Carol had turned on the radio inside and her IPod was playing 'Thirty-Three' by The Smashing Pumpkins. She still always had to have music playing. He had heard it in her car too. Sophia was a lot like her.

 ** _Steeple guide me to my heart and home, the sun is out and up and down again. I know I'll make it; love can last forever._**

Sophia had gone inside, but not before she winked at Daryl and told them to stay out of trouble. Carol started laughing and turned to him.

"What was that about." And he just shrugged.

"No idea." He said holding his hands up. "Mind if I smoke. "

"Go ahead." She said and he looked over at the tree as he lit the cigarette. He had climbed that tree more times than he could remember. As if she read his mind she said. "Yes it's still my room."

He took a long pull on his cigarette. "I called once." He said looking up at the sky full of stars.

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2003 Afghanistan

Their unit had twenty- three men and they were set up in the middle of the desert with nothing but sand dunes and wind for miles upon miles. It was miserable, hot and dirty and it would stay that way for as long as they were there.

No one was in a good mood and the temperature was well over 110 degrees with no shade. It was a sand nightmare as Gareth Winters always called it.

"Another day in the sand nightmare guys." He'd say every day when they got up.

It was a sand nightmare, of that there was no doubt but at least they had some water and food along, which sometimes wasn't the case.

It was Thanksgiving day and they all knew it. They would get a meal of a turkey-like substance later and some mashed potatoes, but no one was looking forward to it. They were far from home and loved ones and the moods were sour at best.

Daryl was under the jeep trying to get the oil pan off which had rusted from so many months of neglect. They just didn't always have time to do things like change the oil.

He did a lot of the jeep maintenance along with his buddy Gareth, who was sitting up in the jeep with a pair of binoculars looking around. There was nothing out there right now, it was a good day, as good as it could get.

Gareth wore aviator sunglasses and a hat, along with his uniform and a gallon of sunscreen, which was a must.

Daryl's other buddy Cesare was playing disk jockey and playing cassette tapes in the old beat up radio they had. Daryl stopped turning the wrench when he heard the words to a song he knew.

 ** _I send this smile out to you, my love._**

He laid there under the jeep listening to the words. He had heard this before because it was one of the only cassettes' Cesare had. Most days he ignored it, or sometimes he just shrugged it off, but not today. Today he laid there and allowed himself the luxury of a memory.

He remembered that night they fell asleep in her bed after she had cleaned him up. They had bickered about the music and this was the song, Disarm. He had woken up that night with her wrapped around him and her head on his chest.

Daryl remembered laying there until she moved and he never told her how they had migrated towards each other in their sleep.

He was homesick and he hadn't talked to Merle in a few weeks, he told himself as he got. He convinced himself of that fact and that the reason was he missed Merle. He put the wrench back in the tool box and wiped his hands on a red rag he had in his tool box.

"Be right back." He said.

She might not even have the same phone number or she may have moved but he would not be stopped. It had been almost four years since he heard her voice and he just needed it today. He didn't use the base calling system at all and he knew the guys in that tent wouldn't believe him when he said he wanted to make a call.

Daryl never called anyone except Merle, who was in another unit somewhere in this godforsaken land of sand and sweat.

He reached the tent and he was smiling as he walked in. He saluted the men it was appropriate to salute and was saluted by his subordinates.

"Sup Dixon. "The big giant named Tyreese said as he turned from the equipment he was watching.

"Make a call Sarg?"

Tyreese nodded. "Give me a sec, you calling your brother?"

"No, states." He said taking a seat next to Tyreese as he obtained the secure and outside line.

"I don't believe you've ever called home have you?" The Sargent asked. "In all the time I known you at least."

Daryl shook his head as Ty handed him earphones and put them on himself.

"Number?" Tyreese asked and Daryl recited it from memory like he still dialed it every day, like they still stayed up all night yapping to each other on the phone.

"663-278-3457." He said.

On the other side of the world a phone rang and Sophia ran to pick it up because her mother was in the kitchen and her grandparents were outside putting up Christmas decorations. She was almost four years old and convinced she was big enough to do what she wanted, so she didn't let the machine get it.

She approached the phone with her blonde pigtails bouncing because she was a big girl.

"Hello." She squeaked into the phone and her little voice caught him off guard, and he didn't answer, even when she said hello again. She didn't sound any bigger than Cesare's little girl who was two, as if Daryl knew anything about children at all.

A little girl answered the phone that had been Carol's, he contemplated that, and he knew.

On her end she just heard static and as she was hanging up the phone he could swear he heard Carol call. "Sophia Lynne." But then the connection was lost along with the hope that had been rising in his chest the minute he set to walk to the communications tent.

She was married now, with a child and he knew needed to stay away. It had been silly for him to even think of it. If he could klick himself, he would have. She had moved on and he knew he could never bother her again.

"You wanna try again, was it a wrong number?"

He nodded. "Yeah wrong number." He said taking off the earphones. His heart was sinking down lower than the pits of blown sand they encountered out on scouting missions. His chest ached in a way that it never had before and he supposed it was time to grow up now and leave his child hood behind.

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"I remember that." Carol said softly, almost too soft for him to hear but he was close enough to see tears spring into her eyes.

"Hey, hey sweetheart, I didn't tell you that to upset you." He said rubbing her arm up and down. "Carol don't cry."

He pulled her close in a one armed hug and held her to him as she cried softly. He didn't want this, he didn't want her to be sad.

"You heard her voice and you didn't know." She said sniffing and wiping her tears.

"Carol." He turned her to him and wiped her tears with his thumbs on either side of her face. "It's over and done now, no use crying. We said we were all starting over, I want to. I hope you do too."

She nodded and then he kissed her and this time it wasn't an accident and they weren't rushed by fear and adrenaline.

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Carol was up early to put the turkey in the oven and then she stumbled back to bed. She laid face down in bed and looked out the window. The tree was still there, the tree he used to climb to come to her room at night.

Her parents' house was an older house and it had three bedrooms, Carol still slept in the same room. This house was built in the days before master bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms. All of the bedrooms were the same and there was one bathroom in the hall way.

So when her parents passed, their bedroom became the guest room, and Sophia had the other bedroom since she was born. It made sense for her to stay in that room.

She looked out the window at the tree, there had been so many nights when they were young that he climbed that tree. Once when she was sick he had brought her soup in a thermos from his house and she knew he took a beating for it.

But she was sick and for once, he said he wanted to take care of her. Carol laid there thinking about him, he had grown into a man, when he left he was a lanky kid, not grown into his body. Now he was, all hard angles and sharp edges.

They had sat on the porch the night before talking and kissing till far past midnight and finally he got up to leave, although he didn't want to.

She fell back asleep remembering that night he slept there with her a few years before he went away.


	11. Chapter 11

_**This chapter gave me fits, I hope what I am trying to get across is clear. Please let me know what you think xoxoxox**_

Merle woke up and walked down the hall of their house and into the kitchen in his boxers. It was just him and Daryl there so they didn't bother much with covering up, especially at the crack of dawn when he hadn't had any coffee yet.

It was funny how he had gotten used to sleeping in later after years of being on the military's clock. He got up at eight am on work days now, not four. He had acclimated perfectly and he was a happy man.

Peaches had them both showing up at nine am at the mission to prepare, heat up and serve food to the town's homeless. Merle was used to these kinds of meals from the military and he offered to help cook and serve instead of being the one served for once.

He thought about her for a minute.

She was something else, he always knew she would do great things, Carol had always been a special sort of woman. But there was still one thing left for her to do in Merle's mind.

 _Marry his brother._

Merle had called that shit right there on the playground when they were kids, he handpicked her practically and those two idiots friend zoned each other. Not this time Peaches, he grinned to himself as he heard Daryl's rumbling gait coming down the hall.

He had just finished setting up the coffee pot and reached in for two coffee mugs when Daryl appeared. Merle turned and leaned against the counter.

"You were out late." He said as Daryl ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I was."

"You and Peaches going to try it?" Merle said.

Daryl nodded. "Think so, it's all up to her."

Merle poured them both coffees and went in the fridge for the creamer he liked. That was a benefit of being state side now. Little things like creamer and a soft bed made a man grateful.

"You two are like two peas in a pod, always were, I never understood why you two weren't together from the jump in school."

"Funny you mention that." Daryl said sipping his coffee, he drank it black, that was even before the Army. "We talked about that last night, seems both of us was afraid to screw up a good thing we had with each other."

Daryl shrugged, they had been young and dumb, about a lot of things.

"Yeah, I kind of thought that, but you know what are the chances we'd end up back here and she would be here." Merle said. "Don't waste this opportunity."

"Pfftt. You're the one who wanted to come back here." He pointed at his brother. "You dragged me back. I thought she was married." Daryl said.

"Yeah, imagine that and the first thing I do is take you to see if Maggie Greene is around?" He said laughing and then he stopped talking as Daryl glared at him. "Ok so maybe I checked first, the internet is a beautiful thing little brother, so sue me."

"You aint gonna be happy till she's your sister for real, are you?"

"Nope, so get to it." Merle said. "Imma go get dressed, we got to go."

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The shelter fed one hundred and seven people that morning. Carol brought Merle and Daryl in and showed them what to do and how to serve the food they had prepared the night before. Tara and Maggie were in front showing people where to sit.

There were tables lined up in rows, each with a pine needle and pumpkin centerpiece on them and fake candles. They had tried hard to make it look petty today, even though most of the people came there on a regular basis and knew what it looked like, it was a holiday.

They wanted it to look the part, just for a little while.

Carl, Judith and Sophia were going around with pitchers of juice for the children and Glenn was playing the guitar in the front of the hall to make it more of a home atmosphere. They had even decorated the mission hall with some fall colored pictures and leaves. The glare of the lights above was subdued by the orange and red decorations and it did look different.

Tara had rigged Christmas lights on one of the windows too, it truly did look festive.

The people who ran it were brother and sister Tyreese and Sasha and Tara had met them through her work as a social worker. She had been volunteering for years, along with the rest of her friends.

Tyreese ran the mission and soup kitchen, feeding meals to people every day and ran a thrift store on the grounds too. Sasha's husband Bob was a minister and he held services there as well, he never turned anyone away. Bob did not care what your race, creed, history, affliction, beliefs or sexual orientation, all were welcome at his church.

Tyreese and his wife Karen had all three of their kids there helping to bus tables too, even their youngest twins Mika and Lizzie who were just seven that fall. Everyone pitched in and everyone worked, that was the way it went there. The mission was in its sixth year now, and was a great success story for the work they did and the families that they helped.

Lori Grimes was watching the turkey at Carol's and they would all gather there later to eat themselves into oblivion. It was a good day, the best of days.

Carol was washing dishes after they were finished for the day at two pm and most of the people had gone already. She and Merle had been teasing each other all day and he told everyone why he called her Peaches and assured her he would never use her first name.

She was Peaches since she was 10 years old and she always would be to him. His girlfriend Andrea was his darlin and she laughed right along with them. It was good to be home again and surrounded by laughter and good conversation.

Finally, Carol had enough of Merle's teasing, he was the same as he was when they were kids.

Carol threw a wet rag at him but he ducked out of the way and it hit Sophia in the back. She turned around and glared at her mother and then burst out laughing.

"Really, Mom." She said, but she wasn't mad, it really had been a good day for her too. Their holidays usually were, they spent half of the time in the service of others and the rest of it together. Sophia knew from a young age that giving back was imperative to life.

She had grown up in soup kitchens and nursing homes following her mother and Tara around as they gave back some of what was given to them. But today she had so much to be grateful for and she knew it. Getting hit with a wet rag was the least of Sophia's problems. But she would get even, she was a Dixon after all.

Daryl stood in the door way watching Carol and Sophia swatting towels at each other and thought again about how funny life was sometimes.

And about how it gave you your heart's desire in the end. Even if you didn't know what that was and that was all that mattered.

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The house was full of people and they ate for what seemed like hours. Merle and Daryl hadn't been in the United States for Thanksgiving in a very long time. Both of them had lived all over the world and Merle was entertaining everyone around the table about what really goes on in Shanghai. He had been stationed there, as well as Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Hawaii and the South Pacific.

He told a lot of stories that day and had everyone laughing at his antics in the military. Sophia looked at him with adoring eyes, he was her first and best uncle. He called her squirt and couldn't wait to spoil his only niece.

She was getting a car if it was the last thing Merle did, he would give her anything she wanted.

"Sophia turns sixteen next month." Carl said and Daryl watched him, he was practically sitting on her lap at the table because they had pushed their chairs together. Judith was on the other side of the table next to her father and mother, but Daryl wished she was sitting between them.

He was watching that kid; no seventeen-year-old horny ass kid was getting near his daughter.

"Bet you'll be looking for a car soon." Merle said and Sophia nodded.

"I have one already." Carl piped up and Daryl looked over at him.

"Make sure you bring it by the garage for us to check it out, that ok Rick?" Merle said and from the other end of the table Rick agreed.

"Appreciate it."

"No problem, we have to keep all these kids safe on the roads." He said grabbing Andrea's hand next to him. Maggie, Glenn and Hershel ate but then had to leave early because Zack had called, Beth was having their baby and they were needed at the hospital. "Right brother?"

Daryl looked back from where he was making Carl so uncomfortable that he moved his chair away from Sophia's a bit. He made eye contact again with Carl and then nodded at him.

She had a father now and he meant for Carl to understand that.

"Yeah, sure Merle." Daryl said.

It had been almost a month since Merle and Daryl walked into the Greene store and got the surprise of their lives. They were fitting in like they never left and as she was washing dishes later after most everyone was gone, Carol whispered a thank you prayer.

Things could have been very different, she had worried that he was dead, although something always told her that she would know somehow if he left the earth.

 _They shared some kind of bond and they always had, it was something time and distance couldn't take away._

She turned and he was standing there in the door way.

"Soph went to help Lori take home the leftovers, meaning to hang out with Carl and Judith."

"You got her number already?"

"I was a kid once." He said.

She nodded and blessed him with a big grin. "I remember."

"I'm watching that Carl, just so you know."

Carol nodded. "I suppose you're right, they are teenagers now, God knows we've been there done that."

He laughed at her candor and was once again reminded that she hadn't changed one bit from the sassy girl she used to be. The one he fell in love with and didn't know what it was.

"I'm not that kid anymore." He said looking at her. "Not by a long shot."

"Me either." She said leaning against the dishwasher and drying her hands.

He had a brief thought of picking her up and sitting her on the kitchen counter, but it was gone just as fast as it came. He wasn't rushing into this and there were kids afoot anyway. It was a nice thought though.

"Are we on the same page then." He asked.

"If the page is a cheesy romance novel about missed opportunities and regret then I'd have to say yes." She laughed. He pushed himself off the door jamb with one hand, walked into the kitchen and over to her.

"Somehow we never were on the same page about this before and I wish it wasn't like that." He said. "I can't believe I never saw it."

Carol looked up at him. "That doesn't matter, we are now. That's what matters now."

Daryl touched her cheek and was about to lean in and give her a kiss when Sophia and Judith burst through the back door, which led to a mud room and then into the kitchen. He stopped midway to her lips and smiled at her.

"Guess I have to get used to kids around." He whispered to her.

"Just be quicker." She smiled kissing him softly.

"Aint nothing quick about me sweetheart." He said into her ear with a grin as Sophia and Judith walked in. The look on Sophia's face said that she knew he was attempting to kiss her before they barreled through the door. She was laughing to herself and couldn't even tell them the message from Lori and Rick.

"My father wants to know if you want to come over for a bon fire in the back yard." Judith said and Carol could see Sophia's eyes begging for a yes.

"Ok, Jude, but your brother and her have a date with a stall full of horse manure in the morning, so no sleepovers either." Carol said and both girls nodded.

"I'll get the chairs mom, are Merle and Andrea still here?" Sophia said accepting her fate like a trooper. Daryl was impressed that there was no arguing or eye rolling like some kids did. The Grimes kids and his own kid were the product of good upbringing and that was clear to anyone.

He had won the megabucks lottery in more ways than one.

"Just us, Tara had to bring Alisha dinner at work and Merle and Andrea went to her mothers."

"Cool." Sophia said as she and Judith went down the basement for the stairs.

"Come here." He said taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. "Wanna go out on a date sometime?"

"Sure." She smiled. "I think it's about time don't you?"

"Better late than never." He said kissing up her neck to her ear, he just captured her ear lobe between his teeth when Sophia's voice came up from the basement as a warning to stop whatever they were doing in the kitchen before they got upstairs.

"We're coming back up now." Her voice floated up the stairs followed by heavy and obvious footsteps.

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1998

"Who are you taking to the prom?" Glenn asked as he and Daryl walked down the hallway towards math class one day in April of their senior year. It was their last of high school, it was time for fun and good times and Glenn was taking Maggie, of course. The prom was in a month and then graduation came after that. Then real life. Merle had graduated the year before and went into the service. Daryl was thinking of following him.

The school was small so there wasn't a whole big group of kids going to the prom, but they would have fun anyway, it was a rite of passage.

Daryl was going, but not willingly.

It was at one of the bigger downtown hotels and the prom committee was promising a night to remember. He would believe it when he saw it.

"Jenny, she'd have a cow if I didn't go." Daryl answered.

Glenn nodded his head, Jenny Williams, Daryl's latest, even Maggie didn't like that girl and that was saying something. Maggie liked everyone, but Daryl's girlfriend just annoyed her to no end. Glenn was curious to know what Maggie's best friend thought of Jenny. He would have to inquire about that, just for the hell of it.

 _Time to poke the snake with a really big stick._

"I heard Shane asked Carol." Glenn said.

Daryl's head swung around and Glenn caught the vibe coming off him. He was not pleased and it was all over his face.

 _Why on earth was she going there again?_

"Thought they were off again." Daryl said.

Carol and Shane had been on and off since they were twelve, mostly off and it seemed to Daryl that Shane and Carol were a mismatch at best. He knew they argued constantly and every time it was he who got the tearful phone call.

Not that he never was the one calling her with romance trouble because he certainly did. That's how they were. But still, he could smell a clusterfuck a mile away with those two.

Shane was in his grade and he had invited Carol, a junior to the prom, he didn't know why that annoyed him so much but it did. Shane was a jerk and he should really be taking a senior girl, half of them would lay down their lives for a chance with Shane Walsh.

Why did he have to pick her?

But she was free to waste her time with Shane if she wanted to, he had a girlfriend himself so it wasn't like he could take her anyway.

 _Where did that thought come from?_

"What's the big deal?" Glenn said.

"No big deal at all."

Daryl said walking into the classroom followed by Glenn and there sat Carol and Tara in the back of the room as usual.

"It's ok if you're jealous." Glenn whispered.

"Aint jealous." He said sitting down next to Carol and handing her a candy bar that he had in his shirt pocket a Hershey bar with almonds, her favorite. He got her one every day."Here ya go, your chocolate fix for the day."

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Maggie pulled her hair up into a pony tail and turned towards Carol who was dressed in her navy blue rhinestone prom dress and high heels that she could barely stand on. Maggie was wearing an orange tulle and taffeta cocktail length dress and matching shoes and they were running late.

This was the biggest night of their lives and they had gotten hung up getting their nails done. Three girls before them had insisted on airbrush designs and held up everyone else at the salon. One of them was Jenny and it was all Carol could do not to trip her as she walked out of the salon.

Tara and her date were coming over to take pictures with everyone too and then they were going in separate cars to the hotel where the prom was being held. But right now they were against the clock.

"Ok, let's do this." She said taking a make-up brush and sweeping it across Carol's cheeks. "Shane and Glenn will be here any second."

"Its fine Maggie, let me do your hair and make-up." Carol said twisting her hair into a French knot and securing it with a clip.

She took the eye shadow brush and dusted it across Maggie's lids, then she took mascara and eyeliner and continued doing Maggie's face.

"Not too much, I don't want to look like a punk rocker." Maggie cried.

"Will you trust me, I won't mess it up, I swear."

"You seem a little edgy since we got our nails done, are you ok?" Maggie asked.

"No, I'm fine."

Maggie nodded, but waited for more, because she knew there was more.

"Glenn's picking up Daryl and what's her name too right?" Carol asked and Maggie nodded, there it was, just as she thought.

 _I hate that bitch. Carol_ seethed and her shoulders getting tense just thinking of her.

"Yes, and I heard what's her name is wearing some black whore dress." Maggie said watching Carol's face for a reaction. "I cannot stand that girl. What is he doing with her?"

"I don't know, but apparently she doesn't know he hates the color black."

"Really, what's his favorite color?" Maggie asked because she was sure Carol knew the answer to _that question._

"Red." Carol answered. "And blue."

"Oh like your eyes and hair." Maggie said. "And what do you know, you picked a blue dress."

 ** _A/N: The plight of the homeless is one of the things that breaks my heart. My good friend was homeless and missing for eight months while her family and I prayed every day for her safe return. She disappeared one day and we didn't even know if she was alive. I can't tell you what that does to the people left behind. Since that experience I have made it my business to do all I can to help others who are where she was once and encourage them to contact family if they can._**


	12. Chapter 12

Daryl pulled the bike up and parked in between the two houses a week before Christmas. He shut it off and kicked the kickstand taking off his helmet.

He looked over at the dark Grimes house, they weren't back yet,he knew that the kids were all at the movies with Rick and Lori. Sophia had said it was some kind of tradition. They had been doing it for years and this was the weekend Carol baked her cookies. Tomorrow Sophia and Judith would help her and Lori make even more cookies.

He didn't care who was baking them as long as he and Merle got some.

She brought them around to all the nursing homes in town, every year she and Lori and the kids did this and he was more than impressed.

If he had to pick out someone to be the mother of his child, he knew he could do no better, and it had been an accident. A lucky accident in his opinion because he had something of substance now, growing steadily with care.

He smiled thinking about the life Carol had here with Sophia. They had good friends and they hadn't missed him so much, surprisingly that gave him a sense of peace. He wouldn't have stayed away if he had known, but still it gave him peace to know they hadn't been all alone.

He was grateful to be let in so easily again too. Carol acted as if he had never been gone and that was, he knew a deciding factor with Sophia regarding him. If Carol hadn't done such a great job raising Sophia and if she wasn't the woman she was it could have been so different.

Sophia had come around eventually, just like Carol had said. The first few days she wouldn't even answer his calls. But then they had gone to the movies and still, they were taking the tentative steps to forming a lifelong bond. He had a daughter that he loved from the moment he saw her and a lot of making up to do.

That was fine, because he was sticking around for good now.

Tonight he needed to know what to get Sophia for her birthday in three days. He didn't know what to get for a girl and at the same time he wanted to get her everything.

He had been out shopping and had no luck, did she like jewelry? Gold or silver? He didn't know. What size did she wear? Did she have an iPod already? Did she have a car?

Daryl needed help and he knew who knew her best.

As he walked up to the door he could hear Carol's signature grunge rock playing "Not for You." by Pearl Jam coming from inside the house.

 ** _Restless soul enjoy your youth._**

He couldn't argue because it was a good choice for music. He always liked this song and it took him back to his younger days and memories of her. He thought this was her favorite band if he remembered correctly, Sophia had said as much once before. He smiled as he rapped on the door, her music was so loud he wondered if she would hear him.

It could have been 1997 all over again with him knocking on the door and the music playing. He used the door on occasion, but mostly climbed the tree to get to her.

The thought took his breath away and even more breathtaking was the fact that last Christmas there was no daughter and no Carol, this Christmas he was a lucky man.

He could hear her saying 'Just a minute' from inside the warmly lit house. He hadn't been home for years at the holidays and already he had the best Thanksgiving of his entire life.

Carol and her friends made him and Merle feel welcome and even like family. He supposed they were after all in a way. It felt good to have people around and to have friends, the new ones and the old ones.

He and Carol were seeing each other a few times a week when they had time and spending time with Sophia together as a family too, but it was all still new yet.

She opened the door and he took her in. She was quite a sight because she had flour all over her face and some in her hair. She was baking tonight just like she said. But did she have to look so good doing it?

She wore low riding jeans that hung on her hips just right and a sky blue peasant top that made her eyes look the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever seen. Blue had always been one of his favorite colors, her eyes were blue and the warmth he always saw in them made him calm all of his life.

Her hair was up in a sloppy bun and she looked beautiful to him, just like she always did. There was nothing more attractive to him than a redhead, specifically, this red head.

He might have lied a little to himself about his true feelings about her through the years. He might have laid in his bunk at basic wanting to call her, but too afraid.

He might have tried to memorize her face from the picture he brought with him and carried with him all those years. He knew every freckle on her face, she was his beloved.

As Merle would say, he had caught feelings. But he felt like he wimped out and let the years fly by instead of trying. Then it was too late and too many years had gone by. He had been sure she was married by now, for years he thought it was too late to go back.

But she wasn't and he would be a liar if he said he wasn't hoping to see her again when he came back here.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey."

He reached over to her face to swipe the flower from below her eye as she opened the door inviting him in.

"You really are baking."

"Yeah, I told you I was, Soph isn't here." She said wiping her hands on a dishtowel she had in her back pocket and walking towards the kitchen.

Jesus she was sexy. He watched her ass in those jeans and he was sure he was going to go out of his mind. The had been taking it slow, which was fine with him, but goddamn the way her ass swayed into the kitchen was distracting him to no end.

"That's good, cause I didn't come to see her." He said taking a seat at the counter bar which was opposite where she was rolling out dough for sugar cookies.

"You don't know what to get her do you?" She laughed.

"Am I that obvious?" He laughed.

She nodded wiping her face with the back of her hand and smearing more flour on her face. She was adorable, and he was in love. It had always been her and always would be.

"Them your Mom's sugar cookies?"

"You remember?" She said and he nodded.

"I remember, a lot." He said. "About cookies, I mean."

She continued rolling out the dough waiting for him to talk more. He just sat there watching her and it was a little unnerving. More and more she was getting that feeling around him again. That feeling like that night when they made Sophia.

The feeling that something was brewing and about to boil over and she wouldn't mind the burn.

"I saw an old Chevy at the garage, the Impala? Is it yours?" She asked.

"Yeah, it is." He said reaching for a piece of the cookie dough to eat and she swatted at his hand. "Jacob left it, he was restoring it, but he lost interest."

"Well, Sophia, Carl and Judith watch this TV show and the two guys…"

"Supernatural." He said immediately, he was, apparently a fan or at least familiar enough with Sophia's favorite show to know the car. Carol was impressed.

"Oh you know it, well the car looks like the car in the show, and she would have a stroke."

"That was easy, I can do that, you sure you don't mind." He asked, she had made this too easy.

"I can't afford to get her a car, so if you could do that, I would be grateful."

He raised an eyebrow. "How grateful are we talking about here?"

"Really?" She laughed. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Nope, pretty much still the same as always." He gave her his best award winning, panty dropping smile then he looked down at his hands.

"You were always such a flirt." She said.

He looked up at her. "I was always serious, all those times but I know you didn't think I was."

'Rearview Mirror' was on now. His personal favorite on this CD the song was about change and letting go. 'Once you're in my rearview mirror' the words rang through his head like a mockery of everything that he was. It was like he heard it for the first time tonight, really listened to the words, and this was his life.

He had left her and this town in his rearview mirror seventeen years ago, running away from a huge problem.

And she stood here all these years holding his daughters hand. She didn't answer him, because deep down inside she knew he had been serious with her. He flirted with everyone back in the day, that was how he always was, but with her she always got the vibe that it was different.

Now he had confirmed it. She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.

"I have money; I can help you from now on." He said. "Besides taking care of Harley Quinn."

"Ok. I appreciate that." She nodded. "And the car will help a lot."

He nodded and they were silent for a few minutes just listening to the music. She rolled the dough and then got out strawberry preserves to fill the cookies with.

"Strawberry ones, my favorite." He said.

"I'll make sure you get some."

More silence and rambling thoughts through both of their heads. They had slowly been becoming closer the past few months, for Sophia's sake, but also for their own. There had even been a little banter between them when no one was around and just like when they were kids, he flirted with her hard.

It felt like when they were younger too, as if they were sixteen again. It was something else to have your heart feel so light after such a long time of being weighed down and lonely. It felt good.

"Soph staying at Lori's?" He asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, Judith's birthday is tonight, Soph's is on Tuesday, they always do a sleepover on the weekend of their birthdays." She opened the jar and dipped her finger in as she always did and put it in her mouth. She looked up with her finger still in her mouth and he was watching her intently.

Carol felt all of the hair on her arms stand up from the way he was looking at her.

She was so fucking hot and she didn't even realize it.

"What about Carl?" He asked suddenly, he may not have been a father for very long, but he was a father and he knew what was what with those two.

"What about Carl?' She asked still stirring the preserves.

"He's a little shit and I don't trust him as far as I could throw him."

"So you have said, but Daryl." She said. "Carl would take a bullet for her, he's not…he."

"He looks at her the way I used to look at you." He finished her sentence and she put down her rolling pin. Well, now it was out there wasn't it and he was dying, absolutely dying to throw her up on that counter.

"You think?" She said leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen where she had been making cookies. Then she started to cut the dough into strips, thinking about what he just said.

Since he had gotten back she had broken up with Ed, not that it was any big romance. It had been dead in the water way before Daryl hit town, and now they were tip toing around something.

She went back to the cookies.

"I know." He said. "I was a seventeen-year-old boy once."

She stood there dipping the spoon into the strawberry, filling the cookies and rolling them into crescents. "I know." She said grinning.

"I'm just going to have a talk with him that will take care of it." He growled.

She laughed. "Well look at you. All protective."

"I remember ok?" He said and she looked up and at him, did he remember it the way she did or differently. His eyes were soft and looking straight through her with a question that he was begging her to answer.

"Me too." She answered.

Then he was on his feet and moving towards her.

He didn't take his eyes from her, as he made his way to the other side of the island. His eyes burned into her igniting the smolder inside of her that had been brewing since he had come back.

She turned and went to put the spoon down but he shook his head placing his hand on her wrist. He dipped his finger into the strawberry on the spoon and licked his finger.

Then he took some more and rubbed it on her lips nice and slow, letting his finger linger on her lips. She sucked in her breath and looked at him, he could see the rise and fall of her chest.

They didn't have to sneak anything, and no one was there.

Finally, he kissed her and the only sound besides 'Dissident' on the CD player now was the spoon when she dropped it on the floor.

It all happened fast after that. His hands were all over her as he pressed her against the counter. She lost her breath as she felt his dick against her abdomen, hard already. She brought her hands up to his chest and it was broader than she remembered.

He was a boy before and now he was a man with a man's passion. His kisses were hot and demanding and soon her hands were in his hair. He let out a groan and pushed his tongue into her mouth, sliding it against hers obscenely. She yielded completely to him and it was more than they both could bear.

Then his lips were moving down her neck now leaving a hot trail of goosebumps over her skin and she was tingling all over.

She closed her eyes and just let herself feel it, no thinking and no worrying. Not tonight. She threw her head back and a moan escaped her lips as her hands ran through his hair.

That sound lit a fire in him that wouldn't be stopped or put out. It was escalated by the music of their youth and the memories of the last time they had done this.

It had been a mad frenzy that time too. Intensified by his fear that he would never be back and could have been going to his death.

This time it was something else entirely.

He reached his hand behind her and swiped all of the baking things she was using out of the way and onto the floor where the spoon was. Before that sound even registered with either of them he was lifting her up and setting her onto the counter.

It was the perfect height, just like he had thought.

 ** _Escape is never the safest path. Oh a dissident, a dissident is here._**

Then he dove in for another kiss and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him right against her in a delicious friction.

They didn't speak at all and her hands were soon pulling at his shirt, which he gladly helped untuck and then her hands were on his back. Her touch on his skin was light but powerful and it affected him at a visceral level, unlike any before.

Carol could feel him trembling and then his hands reached for the hem of her shirt. He looked up at her seeking permission with his eyes, she met his eyes and then she pulled her shirt over her head.

Now that he knew they were on the same page about this too, he was all in. He took in the sight of her in her black lacy bra and he wanted to devour her.

His eyes were like a little kid on Christmas morning as he tentatively reached out to touch her. She arched her back as his palm slid over her breast, Daryl felt her nipple harden and let out an audible sigh. Then his lips were on hers and moving down her neck towards her bra.

Once he stopped, he smiled when he felt her catch her breath. Finally, he got to her other breast and licked her nipple through the lace until it was soaked and she was squirming on the counter.

He had learned some new tricks since the last time they were together and he succeeded in making her want it just as badly as he did. She pulled at his shirt trying to get it off, her fingers going to the buttons swiftly.

Daryl shrugged out of his shirt and it joined hers on the floor, she went to work on her bra and finally got it off, tossing it on the floor.

Then she was against him and his dick twitched at the skin to skin contact, more kissing and he was about to explode.

Carol brought her hands down to his jeans and he moved apart from her to let her do it. She unbuckled his pants and fumbled with the button of his jeans.

He followed her lead and striped her pants and underwear off in seconds, she lifted her ass off the counter to help him and then he finished unbuckling his pants. He tilted his head to look at her as he pulled her to the edge of the counter.

Her eyes were burning fire into his and he never looked away from her as he sunk into her completely. They both gasped out loud and her legs were around him again.

This was a grunting, moaning, sweaty, dirty fuck on her kitchen counter that left them both totally spent on the kitchen floor fifteen minutes later.

They sat against the cabinets in silence still both not believing what had just happened. The clock chimed in the living room and the CD was over.

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Carl walked up behind Sophia as she looked down in to the driveway from the second story window at the Grimes house. She was having her annual Pre Birthday sleepover with Judith, but Judy was asleep and Sophia and Carl had been watching Netflix.

Her own house was in view, the driveway, back door and back deck and she was trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

Carl whispered to her in the dark and joined her in the window. He always tried to sneak up on her but it never worked, she always heard him. She was like her father, ears like a forest animal and nothing got past her.

She was spending the night with Judith, but sometimes she would run into Carl during the night. Daryl was right to be concerned about them, but they weren't being stupid. Sophia was well aware that she was a surprise. Carol was very honest with her, but made it clear that she was the best kind of surprise.

The kind you didn't know you wanted until it was there. Sophia had no doubt that she was wanted and adored, but unplanned.

She and Carl were young but not stupid, they were not ready for that and they knew it.

As he got closer to her Carl draped his arm around her and kissed her cheek, they kissed each other sometimes but that was it.

"Whatcha doing."

"That's Daryl's bike." Sophia pointed to the Harley in the driveway.

Carl looked down into the alley and nodded.

"Looks like it. What time is it? Two am, two fifteen."

The air was heavy with the knowledge Sophia did not want to think about. Yet she would talk to her best friend about it, he would be the first person she would want to tell. Then she would tell Judith.

"Shit Carl, my parents are fucking."

Carl laughed. "Join the club Soph." He turned to her. "I thought you wanted..."

"But its creepy, they're... not together."

The back door at Sophia's house opened, and Sophia was mortified.

"Shit get down."

Carl pushed her down and they both just brought their eyes up to the window. Daryl came out side with his shirt unbuttoned and his pants unbuckled. He lit a cigarette leaning up against the railing of the deck and blew the smoke out towards the sky. The could see him blowing smoke rings, that was how close they were.

"Oh my fucking god." Sophia said.

Then the door opened and Carol came out in her t shirt and boxer short pajamas, with an open bathrobe on.

"Fuck my life." Sophia hissed and Carl couldn't help but laugh. She smacked his arm and he moved away from her.

They watched as Carol and Daryl stood outside talking while he smoked and it was clear they liked each other a lot more than Sophia was used to seeing.

"What's the big deal?"

"Ew just ew."

"Sorry to break it to you Soph, but people have sex."

"That's different, these are my parents."

"What are you two doing?" Judith said as she walked into the hallway rubbing her eyes.

"Spying, get down." Sophia said and Judith got down and crawled over to them.

"What's going on?"

"See for yourself."

Judith peered over the window pane. Daryl was pulling Carol against him and squeezing her ass.

"Oh snap Soph." She said. "Man, he has the best shoulders I've ever seen."

"Hey." Soph smacked her. "That's my father."

'He's kind of hot."

"You're kind of gross." Sophia replied.


	13. Chapter 13

Thirteen

 ** _A/N: I am so sorry I have been Missing in Action, I have exams coming up that have totally taken over my life. It is all consuming and then hopefully if I pass I will finally graduate college. Say a little prayer or burn some sage for me, chant, whatever you do I will take. It's been a long road and I want to be done already. My bestie, Magenta's Nightmare asked me to update this so here we are, I never say no to her. I love you all and I promise I haven't forgotten any of my stories. I will finish them all. Promise. Xxxxxxxx Krissy_**

They slept late the next day and when the sunlight streamed into the window Carol's eyes opened like they always did. Fast and wide, she was the kind of person who startled awake no matter what, and this day would be no different. This time she wasn't alone, and Daryl was laying half on top of her and on his stomach, so close that she could feel his breath against her back, warming her skin.

She could feel the delicious weight of his body on hers and it made her dizzy with the feelings she was having for him. She never allowed herself to go there before, in her heart, because she didn't know where he was.

He was here now and so was she, but still she felt just a little bit strange waking up with him like this.

Carol had slept in a bed with him before when they were young but not like this, they always had all their clothes on back then. At his insistence, Daryl always had too much respect for her parents to ever act on what he felt for her when they were kids. He would always sleep curled into himself on the other side of the bed from her, too afraid to venture close to her, even in his sleep. Not when he was in her room in the middle of the night and they both knew he wasn't supposed to be there.

He would sneak out at day break and Carol's parents never knew he was there, or if they did, they never let on about it. Later, when Sophia was born Carol's mother asked her if Daryl was her father one day out of the blue. Carol figured it was a natural assumption for a lot of people. That was when Carol made up the lie about the frat party with Andrea.

Nobody even questioned it, even as she watched her daughter grow up to be the spitting image of him, he wasn't around and no one ever said a word. Secretly Maggie always wondered, but she never asked her, Carol had gone to great lengths to make everyone believe Sophia's father was a stranger even as she told Sophia the truth.

She knew someday it was all going to catch up with her, but it would be ok. If it caught up to her, it would only happen if he came back and if he came back that meant he was alive. So she said her prayers for him every day and paid for every soldier's coffee in the 7/11 she came across. She taught Sophia just what men like her father did for their freedom and their country.

If he had known about Sophia he would have tried to come home, or gotten killed because he was so distracted, she had thought that then, now it seemed like the stupid assumption of a very young girl. She didn't have all the answers back then; she was just a child herself really.

Now, lying next to him she knew that had been a big mistake and as much as she had wanted to keep him safe, and not distract him, she should have told. He had called once and spoke to his own child and never knew it, that thought ate her up inside sometimes. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

But didn't.

She had no clothes on this time and his arm was around her. It was very different than all the other times, when he had been so careful to preserve her virtue. She peered over at the clock and it said 12:40.

Her eyes bugged open and she tapped him on the shoulder. "Daryl." No answer.

She tapped him again and again and finally he moved. He was slow to wake up, which surprised her, but then again, she was happy he didn't have PTSD or anything like that. He was the same Daryl, just a little older and a little cockier.

"Daryl its almost 1pm." She whispered. "In the afternoon."

His eyes opened and he was looking at her, then his face broke into a grin.

"We stayed up late." His blue eyes sparkled at her as he said those words.

He leaned over towards her to kiss her, but she backed away a little. "Your bike? Where did you park it?"

"In the alley."

She sat up in bed not bothering to cover herself and he couldn't stop staring. He felt his dick getting hard just looking at her. She was so lovely and he wanted to drink her in and eat her with a spoon. The sooner the better.

"Dammit, she must have seen it." She said as Daryl came over towards to her.

"She knows how she got here Carol." He said nuzzling her neck with his lips.

"Oh, my God you're unbelievable." She cried pulling away but he wasn't having it. "Thank God Lori was taking them to the Mall today."

"It's not the walk of shame if it's your own house." He said bringing his lips down her neck. She laid back down and huffed out a breath.

"You haven't changed a bit." She said as he crawled over her.

"And you still can't resist." He reached her collar bone and sucked lightly, igniting what she was trying to push down inside herself since they woke up. "Sorry, but it's too late to sneak out this time. And your Ma aint downstairs with her cast iron frying pan anymore."

He kissed down her neck laughing slightly, making his way further down, but she stopped him by putting her hands on his shoulders.

"I've never had anyone here before." She whispered.

He looked up at her from where he had been kissing the side of her breast.

"What?"

"I mean not that she knew about." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "There weren't many, it wasn't like I had time…for _that._ "

She gave him a puritanical look, but he wasn't buying it. She had let him throw her on the kitchen counter the night before and a shit ton of flour was still all over the floor downstairs.

"Well." He grinned at her. "It's a good thing I'm here."

She reached down and pulled his hair playfully and he groaned out loud and she giggled.

"Yeah, I like that, don't judge." He said rolling his tongue over her nipple, making her arch her back.

"Whatever Daryl." She pulled him up towards her and kissed him. "Are we really doing this?"

She pushed the hair out of his eyes and looked at him. She saw a flash of the boy he used to be, unsure and afraid of what his future would be. She remembered him like he was that night and she knew that she didn't regret him then or now.

He nodded, and he knew she was asking so much more than if they were going to make love again. "If you want, I think you know I'm here 100% for you and Sophia."

"I'm so sorry for…"

He kissed her then. "Don't ever say sorry again, we start over, the three of us." He touched her shoulder to comfort her and then after a few beats grinned at her. "We have the rest of our lives now, but right now I intend to make you scream so loud your neighbors need a cigarette."

Then she felt his mouth moving down over her neck to her breast and his hand was already there working some kind of magic that made her wish they had been together all this time and happy they were now.

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Sophia walked past the fountain in the mall and she remembered the night that she came to the movies with her mother and Daryl, Dad. It had been a while ago and she had been so unsure of him then. Was he going to stay? Or leave them again? He hadn't known about her and maybe he didn't plan to stick around.

That was then.

He was Dad now, she remembered watching them throw the coins into the fountain and the way they were smiling and laughing together.

It had struck her then that they were friends and genuinely liked each other. Maybe if he had stayed back in the day it would have been different, maybe this was the way it was meant to be. Maybe if they had gotten married at eighteen, they would be divorced now. This was better, they liked each other, probably a lot.

She watched the water flowing in the fountain and knew her parent's wishes were there, wishes for happiness and to be together, she was sure of it.

Carl walked up behind her and handed her an ice cream cone and Lori and Judith weren't far behind.

"You think she baked at all?" Carl shoulder tapped her.

Sophia shrugged.

"Well, I sure as hell hope she did, I need those chocolate mint cookies."

Sophia rolled her eyes at him. "Don't hold your breath."

Carl smiled and kissed her cheek. "Your Mom won't leave me hanging."

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Carol's phone chirped that day at around three pm. Tara and she were in the kitchen baking and Daryl had cleaned up the mess from the night before when he had thrown Carol up on the counter like a crazy man. They had cleaned it up before Tara arrived, but somehow he thought Tara knew anyway.

Maybe she had some kind of sixth sex sense, or maybe Carol told her. But he was sure Tara was looking at him like she knew every detail from the night before. He wasn't embarrassed though, that wasn't his style, never had been, never would be. Not when it came to Carol.

~Is the coast clear?

~Yes Lori, I'm baking. Tara and Daryl are both here. Come on over.

She smiled down at her phone and Daryl looked over at her.

"Sophia texted me and said not to leave, so the jig is definitely up around here." He laughed.

"Daryl." Tara said plopping Hershey kisses onto the peanut butter cookies they were making. "The jig has been up for a long time around her."

Then Sophia and Carl were busting through the door, followed by Judith. Carl went right over to the plate of Carol's special chocolate dipped mint cookies and took one. Carol turned and glared at him playfully. This was the game they had been playing for years.

Carl stole cookies and she play yelled at him.

"Carl Grimes, get your paws off my cookies." She said as he smiled and snatched another one. Daryl looked up from where he sat at the island where he had thrown all her baking supplies onto the floor the night before like they were in a porn movie. "Mom and Dad coming?"

Carl nodded to her. "She's getting the cookie tins and she said you needed to borrow some flour?"

"Uh." Carol peered over at Daryl slightly. "Yeah, I spilled it last night."

"Really Mom?" Sophia laughed and Carl grabbed another cookie from the plate.

"Hands off Carl." Carol laughed.

"And off my daughter…"

"Don't worry Sir." Carl said, taking it like a man as Sophia stood behind him mortified. Judith came up behind her and whispered into her ear.

"He's so cute when he's protective." Judith said and Sophia turned and huffed out an annoyed breath at her, then looked back at Daryl.

"I can't believe this…" Sophia said and plopped herself down at the kitchen table as only a teenage girl can. Daryl looked over at Carol and she nodded, with a laugh on her lips.

Carl sat down with Sophia and Judith followed then Daryl turned to the three teens.

"You have a car Carl?" He asked him.

"Yes Sir." Carl answered.

"Daryl, call me Daryl."

"Daryl, I have a car. The one in the driveway, the Ford, that's mine. My Dad and I are fixing it up."

"Wanna give me a hand with another car project." Daryl asked and he saw Sophia's eyes go wide. He delighted in the excitement he saw in her eyes and out of the corner of his eye he saw Carol grinning.

"Sure Sir." Carl said, then checked himself. "I mean Daryl."

"Soph needs a car, and I'd like some help if you want."

Carl nodded. "I'd love to." He said and Sophia was about to jump out of her skin with anticipation, Judith was grinning because now she had the choice of riding with Sophia to school and not just Carl. Eventually they would all carpool, once the new driver excitement wore off and they saw how much it cost to gas up their cars. But at first they would both drive and their parents knew that.

"I've got this '67 Impala…"

"What?" Sophia cried. "Sam and Dean's car!"

She turned around and looked from Carol to Daryl with her eyes bright.

"Not their exact car…"

"Oh my God." She got up and ran to him, giving him a huge hug and then to her mother. Then for no reason at all she hugged Tara too.

 **Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think.**


	14. Chapter 14

**_My bestie lit a fire under my ass for this story. I have been on a roll this week, clearing out the WIPs and I finished two Daryl/OFC stories this week as well. I have lots of new ideas and I am so grateful to everyone who reads the crazy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope you like the rest of this story. There's more on the way. Xoxoxox Krissy_**

The Impala was Sophia's pride and joy and she washed it every weekend, even before the tires hit the road. She got a job with Carl on the Green's farm just like all the kids did for the summer and looked forward to having some cash for gas money and shopping. The two most important things to a teenage girl. True to his word Daryl worked on it for her and fixed it up over a period of a few weeks. Carl came over and helped turn wrenches with him in Carol's driveway on the weekends.

His car was on the road too and soon he would be driving his sister and Sophia to school. It was going to be a great year for them. There was the senior trip and the prom and so many other things.

Carol remembered as she watched her daughter and Carl looking at each other with different eyes and she knew what that felt like. It was new and thrilling and getting to know him all over again had been just as wonderful as the first time.

They were a family now, she, Sophia and Daryl. Sophia had rolled with all of the little bumps they had hit through the past few months and the three of them were solid now.

Life was falling into place and she could hardly believe that just a few months ago she didn't even know who her father was.

Now she saw him every day.

It was a routine now, Daryl worked at the garage with Merle on most days, then he came over to work on Sophia's car. Sometimes he would stay for dinner and sometimes he stayed over-night, but he was always there. Sophia enjoyed watching her parents together, this was something she never thought she would have.

Two parents that loved each other.

Still, sometimes she had to blink and pinch herself to know it was real. She sat on the porch with Carl and Judith watching Daryl work on the car and Carol was bringing him a glass of iced tea. He rolled out from under the car and playfully grabbed her ankle and she laughed a laugh Sophia had never heard before.

It was a laugh of pure joy. She sounded like a teenage girl, especially when he was around.

They were happy together. Sophia wondered if they would get married. She wanted them to, she knew from the moment she saw them making wishes together at the fountain months ago that they belonged together. They were friends and they genuinely cared about each other.

Sophia hoped one day she would have a love like that, one that lasted through years and misunderstandings, a few bad decisions, and even a war.

Daryl stood up and enveloped Carol in a huge bear hug and lifted her off her feet and Carl reached over to hold Sophia's hand.

/

The kids piled into Sophia's car one day late in April when her car was finally done. Carl had shotgun and Judith rode in the backseat as she backed out of the driveway in Sam and Dean's car. The smile on her face made the four adults, Carol, Daryl, Lori and Rick remember their respective days as teenagers. They didn't know each other then and they all went to sit on the Grime's back deck and talk about what being that age was like for them.

Sophia was on the road now and they knew that they would see her less and less now. It was the way things went with teens, they had all stretched their wings that way back in the day too.

Rick and Daryl developed a nice friendship and often the four of them went out together, sometimes joined by Merle and Andrea. It was almost summer now and he and Merle had been home almost a year now.

Their lives, which they thought were going to settle into mediocre retirement, were full and happy in the most unexpected way.

Sophia stopped at the end of the road when she saw Tara coming down the street on her preferred mode of transportation as of late, a skateboard. She topped the car and demanded that she go for ice cream with them and Tara jumped into the back seat in a flash.

She waved over to Carol and Daryl as Sophia continued down the street.

There was a car in front of them at the green light and he wasn't moving, Sophia tried to be patient but Tara had already rolled down her window and yelled. "Hey, try the pedal on the right."

Finally, the car moved and they were on their way to the ice cream shop.

/

That night Daryl and Carol sat on the front porch waiting for the kids to get home and he turned to her. The sun was going down and his hair and eyes were illuminated in the setting sun. He looked like the boy he used to be and Carol felt tears threaten to spill down her face. So much had happened and yet here they were, together again.

They had both grown up so much and the years apart had made them appreciate each other and what they had now.

"I want to marry you." She said looking at the sun dipping down over the horizon and he turned to her.

"Aren't I supposed to ask you?"

"I've been waiting a long time for you."

He nodded. "I know." Then he took her hand and rubbed his fingers against her knuckles. "I thought about you so much."

She looked up at him. "Promise me we won't ever be apart again."

He kissed her hand and looked up at her with his lips still on her hand. "I promise."

The end


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